


The Voices in Your Head… They Tell You to Hide

by SilverWolfCub



Series: Welp [2]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: AU- Fantasy, AU- Magical, Angst, Auras, Ego Partners, Egos, Elementals, Injustice, Insanity, Magic, OCs for bad guys, Other people not mentioned inside, Pre-Modern, Prejudice, Rebellion, Serious Story, Servants, Slavery, That means no phones, This’ll be fun, Violence, You’ll see why - Freeform, partners, powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-03-17 13:45:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 72,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18966451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWolfCub/pseuds/SilverWolfCub
Summary: In a land where those with magic thrive and those without suffer, where do those who are different fall?Where are those who are impossible fall?





	1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> As a tag says, there will be violence. Some... not really explicit or graphic, but I’m not really squeamish around violence so idk if that’s just me. Anyway, WARNING:VIOLENCE!  
> THIS IS THE ONLY TIME ILL GIVE THIS WARNING!
> 
>  
> 
> I’m excited.

“Moma, What would you do if I had magic?”

His mother looked at his brother with pure love, smiling softly. “I’d get you into magic school immediately. You’d have a wonderful life, but you’d need to write back to us every week.”

His brother giggled. “‘Course moma!”

This was one of those rare times that their mother wasn’t working or cooking or cleaning, and of course it was almost their bedtime but they would spend as much time as they could while their mother wasn’t busy. They loved making her smile and laugh, because it would be harder to see the bags under her eyes and the worry lines arching her brows.

“What would you do if I-“ He took a moment to think. His brother had already taken the magic option. It clicked in his head quiet suddenly that he had never told his mother about his discovery. “Had an ego?”

His mother’s happy face turned sour in an instant, and she leaned forward, wrapping both of them in a hug. “Oh, oh Mark, never wish for that, darling. Having an ego is a blessing, yes, but in this world, it is a curse.”

Mark frowned, looking around the room. It was lit dimly by a fire, since they didn’t have enough money for 24-7 electricity. Their house was two rooms, but their backyard was big and that was enough for the four year old and his brother. He didn’t grow up with much, but he never thought of living lowly as a curse or something bad at all. He truly doesn’t believe in curses, and he knows his mother doesn’t either. The fact that she said that scared him.

“Mark, sweetie?” His mother asked after she let them go, but Mark wasn’t listening. He had four different voices in his head, arguing about whether to tell her or not. Three said yes. He and the other said no. “Mark, What is it?”

He blinked, finally paying attention. “Moma, do you remember when that mean boy was bullying Tommy, and he got sick?”

His brother tilted his head, hand ghosting over where he had been hit on his arm. Why was Mark bringing this up?

His mother, on the other hand, was starting to feel lightheaded in fear. She was afraid with where her child was going with this. “Yes, hun, I do.”

Mark bit his lip. “Well, I was really mad when I saw Tommy’s bruise, and then this voice… there was a voice, and it said it could make him feel bad for a little bit, and I said to do it, and then he got a cold.” Mark continued, not looking at his mother, who was close to tears. “And I have another voice, and look-“ he pointed his hand towards their fireplace, and a little shot of energy left his palm, reigniting the dimming flames. Mark grinned at himself, feeling more self confident. “And I have others! One-“ he finally looked up, stuttering to a stop as he saw his mother’s face, tear stained. “Moma?”

His mother looked her child in the eyes, before breaking, letting loose a sob and holding him close.

 

**——X——**

_Years later..._

 

“Who needs five whole watermelons? Five? Seriously?”

Bob laughed as his friend muttered about the amount of watermelon he had to carry. Wade had offered to help, but Mark was strong enough to carry all of them. Not that they knew.

“You don’t have to try and act up around us.” Wade grumbled as Mark still didn’t let him help. “You know we’re stronger, so let us do it!”

“No.” Mark drawled out with a grin, causing Wade to pout and flip him off as Bob laughed some more. It was ironic to Mark, that Wade and Bob thought they had an unfair advantage. They were born with magic, and it was drilled into their heads that they were superior from a young age, but that didn’t stop them from leaving everything behind to do what they thought was right. Even though they didn’t like how everything was ruled, they still had traces of superiority from their teachings, and it showed in times like this.

They didn’t know that Mark was the one with the unfair advantage. No one knew, except for his mom and brother. He briefly wondered how they were doing.

They walked through the market, picking up rations and fruit as they went. It wasn’t a noble’s market, so it didn’t sell anything of great quality. It was outside, like most peasant shops were, and Mark was trying his hardest to not kick up dust on the stands.

**_I can help you with that._ **

He shook his head subtly at the current ego speaking in his mind. _No, Dark. Do you want them to be suspicious?_

 **_I don’t care what they think_ ** _._ Dark murmured in his head. Dark was the first ego to appear inside his head, and the strongest. He could control shadows (to an extent Mark has never found) and can even store things inside of shadows. Mark had already had half a mind to channel Dark and use his powers to store everything, but that would make much too big of a scene. Not like Dark ever cared, he’d much rather make a scene, show everyone his power.

 **_Let it go Dark._ ** He heard Dr. Iplier, the last ego that appeared in his head said. Out of the four egos he had, Dr. Iplier’s power scared him the least, but that’s not saying much. Having the power to cause illness was exceptionally scary.

He tuned out the egos as Bob and Wade laughed about something, paying everyone they bought from more money than need be. Everyone knew them around these parts, both as good men and as people part of the rebellion. And it was nice that they didn’t have to worry about being ratted out, since the average citizen loved them.

“We got everything on the list.” Bob said after another ten minutes, stuffing a piece of paper into his pocket and taking some water and rations from Wade. The low class didn’t have much food, meals consisting of rations, fruit, and water (if they were lucky). If they wanted anything sweet at all that wasn’t fruit, or any fresh meat, they’d have to go to a noble’s market.

And that was a risky move. They were only out right now since they were running dangerously low on food as it was.

“Let’s get out of this sun.” Wade groaned, wiping sweat from his brow. Mark could see currents of air being directed towards him, subtly of course, but still there. Of course he was complaining, but he was using his magic to make it better already. Mark didn’t call him out on it, though. “I never thought I’d like the underground so much.”

The rebel’s base, where they lived, was a complex building built under the ground. There wasn’t many buildings underground, only nobles used them, since they had people with earth magic. Lucky for the Rebels, Bob and a few others helped out when their last base was attacked and destroyed.

Mark juggled all of his melons to one hand (an impressive feat) and used his own earned money to buy a treat for his dog, pocketing it before going back to holding the melons. They weren’t the large melons (they didn’t sell large melons here) but they were bigger than cantaloupes and Mark still felt pride in carrying them all. “But seriously, who wanted five watermelons?”

Bob’s laugh renewed itself as Mark went back to that topic. “Ethan and Tyler. It must be an ego thing.”

Mark didn’t have cravings for watermelons. Not that he could tell them that. “What about Marzia?”

“She has a love of strawberries.” Wade pointed out.

Mark was about to point out that she loved all fruit, and that didn’t count, when he heard a grunt. Outside of the market, down an empty street, a man was kicking another man, who was laid down on the ground shaking.

“What’s going on over there?” Mark asked, moving down that way before Bob and Wade even realized. The two hurried to catch up, their rations, fruit, and water bouncing in their arms. When Mark got close enough, he yelled out. “Hey!”

The man kicking the other looked up. It was clear he was a noble, his clothes nice but not nice enough to be an aristocrat. Why a noble was in this area, he has no clue. The man on the ground wasn’t a man, but a teenager. A 17 year old boy, at most, with a thick metal collar around his neck.

Mark knew what the collar was. An ego collar, made to null an ego’s power, and shock the host if they try to use it without their owner’s permission. The collar had always put a flash of fear and anger in him whenever he sees one, his egos even more so.

“What do you want?” The man spat, placing his foot on the quivering boy’s shoulder. “I’m trying to teach my ego some manners.”

Mark gritted his teeth. It was a common misconception to call what he is an ego. The rare magic he has in him, Dark, Dr. Iplier, and the others, those are egos. He, himself, is just a regular human, a host that could channel them. “By what, harming him until he can’t think straight? What will that gain you?” He needs to calm down. He had to deal with this in a civilized manner, or else he’d just make the boy’s life worse.

The man snarled, glancing at his clothes. “Who do you think you are, peasant, to be talking to a noble like that?” He waved his hand in the air, flames appearing around his hand to prove a point.

“Hey, watch who you’re talking to!” Wade intercepted the man’s anger, glaring. “Don’t think you’re all that because you have magic!”

Mark sighed. He loved his friends, but because of the way they were raised, they don’t know anything but how to escalate the conversation. I mean, he was doing it too but he knows how to fix it.

The boy quivered as the man stepped forward, face flushing in anger. He didn’t walk up to Wade, though. He moved right in front of Mark, knocking the melons from his hand and stomping on one of them. Dang, melons were expensive.

**_You should let me put a hole in him._ **

_Not now, Wil._

Bob, ever the more logical one, stuck a hand in between Mark and the man. His hand hummed with magic. “Back off.”

The man seemed to sense the magic, and his brow furrowed, before realization dawned on his face. “Train your servants better, man!” It wasn’t rude to Bob, per say, but it was aggressive. Bob just glared at the man, mouth set in a frown.

Wade gasped, stumbling on his words of denial, when someone else cut in on the conversation. “What’s going on here?”

Mark tilted his head, getting only a glance at a uniform before freezing. Officials. Police. What were they even doing so far out in the regular quarter, they don’t get paid for being here.

His egos all spoke as one. **_Get out of there, now!_ **

“Just some annoying servants.” The man said, grabbing the boy by the arm and hauling him up. The boy trembled. “Nothing to worry about, we solved it.”

Mark released a breath. The officials wouldn’t check them if someone they knew was noble defused the problem. He just needed to get out now.

And then Wade, sweet, sweet, stupid, Wade. “Hey! I’m not a servant!”

Since they were around a noble, and the officials knew Bob had magic, they had to make sure Wade wasn’t lying, since saying you weren’t something you were, or vise versa, was basically treason. Punishable by death if they really wanted to.

The two officials there sighed, and one pulled out a device of some kind. Mark’s instinct went into overdrive, nothing but _run run run ruuuuun_ going through his head. It was obvious that the panic was seeable on his face, since Bob frowned worriedly at him.

The official put the device up to Bob’s neck, and the thing ping. The official nodded, before doing the same to Wade. Afterwards, they moved to him.

 _Google, make it malfunction or something!_ Mark cried in his head, focusing on the device and willing something to happen. Nothing did.

 **_It is warded against regular and ego magic._ ** Google said, voice monotone but with a sliver of panic. Of course it was protected against egos.

Bob must’ve been connecting some dots in his head, because as the official put the device next to his neck, his eyes widened. “Wai-“

The device made a long, loud noise. Once, twice, three times, four. The official frowned, pulling the thing back before looking at it. He gasped as the other official came to see what he saw.

The other official frowned as well, before eyes widening. “I’ll be damned.” He said, before going into his bag, pulling out a collar. Mark took the gasps that emerged around him as confirmation. They knew. “Who would've ever thought.” The official said, before taking a device on his shoulder (Mark thinks it was a radio, but he wasn’t sure) and speaking into it. “New ego found, irregular. The device says this one has four.”

His fear confirmed, it felt like time froze. He should’ve ran before they scanned him. Stupid, stupid… he should’ve ran earlier.

 **_Run_ ** _._ He heard from Dark, and suddenly Mark wasn’t frozen anymore, the world seemed to start up again around him. **_NOW!_ **

Mark glanced at the bags of food he, Wade, and Bob left on the floor. Waving a hand, they all disappeared as shadows engulfed them. He paid no attention to the surprised gasps he got, turning towards the ego and pointing a hand towards him. A bullet of pink light shot towards the collar, snapping it in two. The boy watched as it fell off, taking one moment of surprise before hitting the noble in the jaw and disappearing, like he had never been there.

Mark let satisfaction take a hold of him, before turning around and bolting, running faster then he’d ever run before.

 

**——X——**

 

He didn’t stop running until he came upon a house with an old lady out in the front. The lady had greying brown hair, a wrinkled face, but the prettiest eyes he’s ever seen, a mix of purple and blue. Anyone could feel the energy crackling around her.

“Hello dearie.” The lady said. “How was the shopping? Where are the groceries?”

“I have them, don’t worry.” Mark panted, moving to the door and opening it. “You never saw me.”

“I never do.” The old lady chuckled, but there was a spark in her eyes. There was a reason for why she was the one guarding the entrance of the base. Even with his egos’ powers, Mark wouldn’t want to fight the lady with both earth and fire magic.

 **_I love feisty ladies._ ** Wilford said, to which Mark ignored.

Mark closed the door after him, moving through the normal looking house and into the bedroom in the back. Pushing a old bookcase out of the way, he started down the latter concealed behind it. Covering the bookcase back up, he dropped to the bottom, taking a moment to rest against the ladder once he reached the bottom.

“Oh hey, Mark!” He heard, and turned to see Tyler walk up. “How was- what’s wrong? Where’s Bob and Wade?”

Mark waved away Tyler’s concern. “They’re coming. And you’ll see.” He knew they were coming, he saw them running too but he was faster than normal people, or people with magic, so he was still really far ahead. “I’m going to go take a nap.”

He just wanted to be away from people, if only for a second. He wanted one last moment of peace before they all found out. Before it all turned to shit.

Tyler nodded, frowning slightly. “Okay, dude. We’ll talk about this later.”

Mark nodded. Tyler was a close friend of his, Mark was the first person he told when he found about about his ego. Mark felt guilty about never telling him, but he’s never told anyone about his egos. His family was the only exception. “Oh yeah, and Mark, you got a letter. It’s in your room.”

Mark’s spirits lifted slightly, and he took the quickest way back to the dorm style rooms in the base. Many of the magic wielding and all of the people with egos lived on base, since both had so much hate coming from nobles for what they were doing. He lived on base because he didn’t want his family to be associated with him.

He remembered when he and his brother, Thomas, asked their mother what she would do if they had magic or an ego. And true to Mark having egos, Thomas also came into magic. Their mom got him into magic school as quick as possible, and now they lived as low nobility somewhere in the kingdom. Thomas had worked hard to get where he was, and even harder to get their mother up there with him, since she didn’t have any magic. It wasn’t rare for nonmagical children of nobility to be turned into servants, so they already had to be careful. Mark didn’t want to cause them troubles because of his egos.

Mark dug out a key to his room, before remembering that he forgot to lock it (again) and just turned the knob. The room was small but nice, a bed and desk and nightstand and chair. All of the letters he had were stuffed into the drawer on the nightstand.

Since they thought he was just a regular person, he got a regular room. People with magic got a room with more of their element (maybe a fountain or a fireplace because an underground fireplace was a great idea) and one with egos just got a bigger area in general. It was kind of manipulative, if Mark thought about it. They got a bigger spot here to show them that the Rebels were better people than the nobles, instead of just giving them a regular room. But it really didn’t matter, because most egos they saved didn’t stick around, most of them leaving the kingdom for one of their safehouses.

Mark wondered if when the higher ups found out if his room would change. He didn’t care. As long as he had his letters, he’d be fine.

Speaking of letters, he picked up the new one on his desk. It was a blank card, but the front and back had drawings of dogs on it. Mark chuckled, only Thomas could draw that well.

_Hey Mark,_

_Mom’s a little sick, so she can’t write right now, but she wanted to know about how Chica was doing. Oh, and she says she loves you. But she want to know how Chica’s doing more. That’s mom for you._

_Anyway, I’m working for this new noble, Denzil, who has several different people with egos as his servants. I’ll tell you more when I know more, but if you can, get these guys out of here. I don’t like putting business and work stuff in these letters, but it pains me to see this happening._

_I love you, Mark. I know you won’t stay out of trouble, but at least stay safe. I’ll write next month, like always._

_Tom_

**_You have a good family._ ** Dr. Iplier murmured.

Mark took out a notepad, writing down Denzil’s name for later context. He flung the pad onto the desk, before flopping down on his bed and closing his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. It only took a couple minutes for Bob and Wade to scramble into the room.

“Dude.” Wade said, and Mark got ready for a rant of some kind.

“That kid you freed got out okay.” Bob said, seemingly uncaring of what he found out. He could tell that Mark didn’t want to talk about it, and Mark was grateful for that. “He caught up with us to say thanks. Invisibility.”

“Dude!” Wade said again. He, unlike Bob, didn’t seem to care with what Mark felt on the matter. There was a hint of betrayal in his voice, and that was irritating. Maybe he should’ve told him, but he had his reasons and it wasn’t hurting anyone.

“The higher ups also want to talk to you.” Bob continued, still calm and all around okay with Mark. “They know.”

“DUDE!” Wade yelled now. Mark’s irritation grew, and he snapped his head around to look at Wade. The tall man grew silent as his look.

“What?” Mark finally spoke. “What do you want me to say, Wade? Yes, I have an ego! Yes, I have multiple egos! Yes, it’s supposed to be impossible! Is it? No! You want me to say sorry? Sorry!”

Wade deflated. “I was upset, but I was going to say that you looked badassed out there.” It was a sorry excuse, but it sounded like something Wade would normally say, and the fact that he did say something normal was comforting to Mark all in itself.

Bob snorted. “No you weren’t.” He turned back to Mark, smiling to show that it was okay. “We’re not mad. We know how dangerous is it for people with egos. I just wish I knew before, so I could get those officials away- your name is going to be everywhere before long.”

Didn’t he know it. It would take a bit, they only had his physical features. They didn’t get a picture, and they don’t have a name, yet. It would change soon enough- the nobles and aristocrats were power hungry, greedy people, most of them at least. Once word got out, he’d be the talk of the town. Sighing, he stood up. “You said the higher ups want to see me?”

Bob nodded, and Mark left the two of them in his room, making his way towards the command room. It’s where the group that they call the higher ups usually are. It’s made up of their leader, Zero, One and Two, who were two normals, Three, a girl with water magic, and Marzia, the only one who didn’t use a weird code name. Mark was friends with Marzia, someone else with an ego. Zero, One, and Two were the founders of the rebellion, and Three and Marzia joined the high ranks based on their skills.

Mark reached the room, knocking softly. The door opened to Three, and the female just nodded, scanning him in a way she’s never done before, before letting him in. He shivered when she turned around, they obviously already knew, and it had already changed what they thought of him.

He kept confidence in his step as he moved, eyes finding Marzia immediately from where she sat at a long table. One and Two sat on one side, Zero at the head of the table, and Three moved to sit next to Marzia. She gave him a warm smile as he entered. At least she didn’t seem to be upset, but she would understand where he was coming from the most.

The others didn’t speak, though, as he sat down. It was silent for a moment, before Zero moved. Zero was athletically thin, with dark, dark brown hair and greenish blue sharp eyes. His jaw was sharp and clean shaven, he was in his mid thirties, and he was undoubtedly handsome. Muscles moved as he turned on the radio on the table.

 _‘Breaking news.’_ A light female voice spoke. _‘The impossible has been prove possible. A man with multiple egos has been spotted outside of the noble quarter. A name hasn’t been put to him yet, but his description goes as shown. Thick black hair, brown slanted eyes, honey colored skin, glasses, angular jaw, clean shaven. Seen wearing high cost peasantry clothes. The living bounty on this man’s head has been set by several different nobles and aristocrats. Grand Judgement says he is to be captured on sight.’_

Zero turned off the radio, eyes cold as he looked at Mark. “Do you have something you want to share?”

Zero, despite all that he was, all that he’s done, never scared him. He’s seen Zero kill in cold blood before, sacrifice Rebels for the greater good, even use innocents for blackmail. But he’s never let Zero scare him, even if Zero meant to. He wouldn’t let him now.

Swallowing easily, he went onto a different topic all together. “Wow, the Grand Judgment has already heard and passed judgement on me? That was mighty quick, even for them. And what’s ‘honey’? It must be something nobles use. It sounds like a type of food-“

“Mark.” Zero cut him off. His eyes softened slightly as he continued, and that confused Mark more than anything. “Why didn’t you tell us? We could’ve offered far more protection, for both you and your family if you did.”

Mark crossed his arms. If he had told them, the people he didn’t want to know would’ve known a lot sooner than now. He’s been doing this for almost a decade now. “I didn’t need the protection. I wanted to help, wherever I could. Tell me that I’ll be able to go on regular missions now that you know.”

“You wouldn’t.” One said. “Because now everyone knows. We could’ve protected your identity.” Which was just bullshit in it’s own. If they knew, they’d broadcast it to the world. ‘The rebellion has a man with multiple egos on it!’ They’re not upset that he has them, they’re upset that Mark didn’t let them use his egos for their own advantage. He’d give up a lot for the rebellion, but he wouldn’t give up his egos for it. No one’s going to dissect him, see his inner workings and figure out how his egos live. They are off limits.

“For how long?” Mark questioned, and it was a genuine question. “We’ve had moles before. We’ve lost people with egos to moles before. We almost lost Marzia to an mole.” He gestured to her, and her face hardened slightly, hand ghosting over a scar on her neck, something many egos got in their lifetime. “The moment Rebels knew who I was, a mole would have ratted out our location and I’d be gone. It’d be like our last base all over again.” These were half of his own thoughts, and half of what his egos were whispering in his mind. It helped to have several different thoughts on the same subject.

“You’ve been with us for years now, Mark.” Zero rumbled, face slowly becoming more and more irritated. “I’d hope you would think better of us by now.”

“Knowing you for so long is why I kept it a secret.” Mark retorted, and he didn’t care about how rude it sounded. “Bringing that kind of attention to us when the rebellion was brand new wouldn’t of worked. We would’ve been destroyed. All that we’ve built, all that we’ve saved, they’d be gone. I did this for the greater good.” And he really did, he did think of the rebellion when he kept his secret. It wasn’t the top point on his list, but it was there.

“I expect nothing less from you.” Marzia smiled, before turning to the others. “Did I not hide my abilities from you all as well? Did Ethan and Tyler not when they first joined? We are very small in numbers, it is easier and safer for those around us, if we hide instead of fight.”

Mark smiled, thankful for the help. Truthfully, there was only four people with egos working in the rebellion, him included. The ones they saved went into hiding, far away from the kingdom in safe houses they’ve set up. People with egos are very hard to find… very, very hard. Other kingdoms didn’t even have many, because they’re always shipped to this one. But still, it’s hard to find someone with an ego, unless you’re with nobility.

“I really wish this didn’t happen while you were making a food run.” Three groaned, seemingly not upset at all with Mark, but rather the food. “We wasted both food and money!”

Mark grinned, happy to be off of that particular topic, placing a hand on the table in front of him. A shadow appeared on the table, and he pulled out the rations, fruit, and water he stored in the shadow.

Marzia grinned, giving a little clap. “Oh, that’s neat! How many egos do you have?”

“Four.” Mark answered, trying not to be smug. Marzia’s grin widened, while the others gasped. He started to feel better, because something inside him found great amusement in surprising all of the higher ups. He got even greater amusement when Marzia specifically wasn’t surprised at all, because she got this small look on her face when she wasn't phased with the proceedings in front of her.

Zero, on the other hand, didn’t give a face at all. He laced his fingers together, placing them on the table. “Mark. Your life is about to get ten times harder.”

  
  


_‘-He is to be captured on sight-‘_ nimble fingers cut off the radio. The man who owned those fingers was leaned over a plush chair in a room that didn’t belong to him. “Well, this is interesting.”

“Isn’t it?” Another man said, this time someone who was digging through shelves and drawers, picking things up and pocketing them. “Who would’ve thought?”

“I feel cheated.” The man sitting responded. His hand drifted over his neck, where multiple thin scars were barely visible, crisscrossing like an intricate pattern. “I guessed they lied when they called me one of a kind.”

“Two of a kind, now.” The other man chuckled. “So, what are you thinking? Want to meet him?”

“He’ll be hiding.” The sitting man responded, sounding bored and annoyed with that thought.

“When has that ever stopped you, boss? There may be someone else like you, but I bet there is only one. Once the Grand Judgement finds him-“

“Yes yes, he’s fish food. Locked up for life, excetra excetra.” The man lazily waved a hand, before sighing, gracefully hopping to his feet. The voices in his head were all telling him the same thing. “Okay, I’m interested.”

“Knew you would be.” The other grinned. “Already heard rumors. They think he’s with the rebellion.”

“Guess we’ll be visiting the Rebels real soon, won’t we be?” The man walked away from the chair, heading towards the space they entered from. “Come on, we have a lot to do and a little time to do it.”

The other followed, laughing slightly. “Bet Zero thought he’d seen the last of you.”

The other laughed softly, which hid the malice he felt. “Zero is a smart man. He knew he’d see me again. He’ll probably contact us soon.”

This time, the other cracked up. “As much as a noble person he tries to be, he still comes to Jack, the criminal, for help.”

“Rather be an ally then an enemy.” Jack said with a small grin. “He still owes me from last time. Think he’ll give me the man as repayment?”

 

**——X——**

 

“Thank you for holding her for me.”

Marzia giggled, grinning. “No problem. Maya and Edgar love Chica anyway.”

Mark smiled as well, watching as Marzia opened the door to her own room. A golden ball of fur barreled into Mark, and he laughed as Chica quite literally jumped into his arms, licking his face. Two pugs ran around his legs, yapping excitedly.

Mark turned to walk away, when he felt Marzia grab his shoulder. “Yes?”

Marzia frowned for a moment, thinking. “I think, for at least a few weeks, you should go to one of the safe houses, outside of any of the kingdoms. Just until news of you dies down.”

Mark sighed, he had already thought of that. Several times. “I was thinking of that too, but would it really matter? I might disappear, and they’d stop looking, but they’d still know my face. They’d get energized once I show up again. The only thing it would do was give them more time to plan how to catch me.” He paused. “If it gets really bad, I’ll take a break at a safe house. Promise.”

As if sealing it, Chica licked his cheek right then.

Marzia smiled at the gesture, petting Chica’s head for a moment. “Okay. I know you can handle yourself. Zero’s moved your room as well, the key should be in your old room. You’ll be down here with Tyler, Ethan, and I.”

As far as the underground dormitories went, the regular people were the closest to the surface, then down a floor was the rooms for the egos, then another floor down would be the rooms for magical people. It was separating, but it had to be. Magical people tended to use their magic while sleeping, and having a regular person waking up to a flooded room just wouldn’t work out well. And for the separations of egos… they had had so many moles before, and the moles always went after them, so they had their own floor that no one was supposed to go to. Mark just nodded, he knew he’d get moved. “Well, I guess I’ll see you in a bit, I have to get my stuff.”

Marzia nodded, before her eyes lit up as she remembered something. “Oh, and Azalia upstairs, she’s been making this dog bed for Chica. It’s in your new room.”

Azalia, the old lady guarding the entrance to the hideout. Mark grinned, wide and genuine this time. “I’ll thank her next time I see her.”

With a farewell, Mark turned and went up to his room, still holding Chica. Her weight was hardly a problem for him. He didn’t have any issues grabbing his letters and other sparse possessions either without letting her go. He didn’t let her go until they reach his new room, and she didn’t have a problem with it either.

He set her down so he could dig out the new keys, unlocking and opening the doors. The room was large compared to the last one, the toilet and shower much nicer as well. The room was in the shape of a upside down ‘L’. The bathroom was immediately to the right, and junted out in the room. Once the bathroom ended, the alcove it made held a slightly bigger bed, a new pretty dog bed set down in between the bed and the bathroom wall.

On the other side of the room, pushed up to the wall the door was on, was a new desk and chair. The last corner, the one in between the bed corner and desk corner, was empty besides a rug. Mark supposed it was a place to practice using his ego’s power, but there was an actual training room in the hideout, so Mark didn’t care for it.

Mark ushered Chica in, setting the dog bowls he had in the empty corner, before flopping back into the bed. He felt Chica dig into his back pocket for the treat he bought for her, but he didn’t help her, she could get it. He was extraordinarily tired, and he could hear his egos talking to him and each other, but he was too tired to care.

He hadn’t even thought to undress before he was out.

  


 

He woke up to what his internal clock said was 10 at night. He groaned, this was the problem with sleeping whenever he wanted.

 **_You haven’t slept your recommended time of 10pm to 6 or 7am in 16 days._ **Google informed him.

 _Good to know._ He yawned. _Really don’t care._

Chica was sleeping in her dog bed, so Mark left quietly, closing the door softly before making his way to the lounge room. He was peckish, and rations might taste bad, but food was food.

There was only a few people there, a group of regulars and one magic person in one of the corner tables. They stared at him as he went to the cabinets, but stopped after a bit. Forgetting a ration, Mark picked up an apple and bit into it, enjoying the taste, when Ethan, in a flurry of movements, ran through the room and into the next.

 **_Oh, something interesting._ ** Wilford said. **_Follow him._ **

Mark complied, continuing to eat as he followed the boy. They ended up at the command room, and Mark entered without worry.

“Oh, you’re up.” Wade said, and that got everyone’s attention. “You slept almost all day, how are you?”

“Feeling great.” Mark grinned, something he noticed he always did but barely ever meant. “What’s going on here?”

“Got a call from a noble a hour after you knocked out.” Tyler was there too, as well as Bob, Marzia, Zero, and Two. The entire ego evac team was here, besides himself. “He’s got a man with an ego getting abused. He was going to try and get him out himself, but he didn’t know the extent of his injuries until now.”

“Where are they?” Mark asked, determination and paranoia taking form inside him. “We sure this isn’t a trap?”

“As sure as we can ever be.” Two murmured. “Noble quarter, quadrant 3. We’re setting up an evac. We need to get them out as quickly as possible, from what the noble says.”

Quadrant 3. Looking at it like a target, quadrant 1 had the aristocrats, the highest of the high. The second quadrant, the circle outside of the first one, had the lowest aristocrats and the highest nobles. Quadrant 3 had normal nobles, and quadrant 4 had lower nobles, those with magic that came from non magic families. Thomas and Mark’s mother had lived there, but a letter ago Thomas said they were moving to the third quadrant, since he had a job offering in the second quadrant.

“Taking the tunnels?” Mark asked. He knew the tunnels the best, since he could use the shadows to his advantage.

“You are not going with them, Mark.” Zero said sternly, and the room seemed to still. Everyone knew that if Mark wanted to do something, he would do it. Saying no just made him want to do it more.

“You think they’ll be looking for me in the third quadrant?” Mark asked, adding an almost insulting tone to his voice. “You think they think I’m stupid enough to go into the noble quarter?”

“Use your stupidity against them.” Bob said, trying to ease the tension.

“Exactly.” Mark said seriously, which made Bob laugh. “The only people that know my face are those two guards and that noble, who looked to be from quadrant 2. Besides, I know the tunnels better than anyone, there’s no denying it.”

Marzia was staring at him, eyes sharp and irritated. She wanted him to stay low, he knew, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to stop helping when someone’s life was at stake.

“You can’t go looking like that.” Zero relented slightly, knowing the battle was a losing one.

Mark grinned, happy the hard part was over. “The radio got my descriptions wrong. They said clean shaven while I’m not.” He gestured to the stubble on his chin. “I can easily take off my glasses, and if you’re really worried, I can dye my hair.” His voice caught a sarcastic tone. “I mean, it’s not like there are a ton of guys with brown hair and eyes…” he gestured to the several other guys in the room with brown hair and eyes.

Zero glared for a moment, before groaning. “Bob, Wade, keep him in sight at all times. Besides that, it’ll be your regular team.” He waited for the two to nod, before looking away.

Mark gained a smug look as he glanced at Bob. He took a single second to salute, before leaving to find some noble clothes in the prep room. As he entered the hall, he paused for a second, listening in to see if Zero had a retort he didn’t want to say to his face.

“If it comes to Mark or the other ego, you choose Mark, no matter what.”

Mark squinted at nothing, wrinkling his nose. Here’s another reason he didn’t want anyone to know. He wasn’t more important than anyone, and he was going to make sure that man survives, no matter what.

 

**——X——**

 

Mark finished buttoning up, spinning around to show Tyler and Ethan. “Don’t I look dashing? You’re both swooning inside, aren’t you?”

Ethan grinned, rocking on his feet. “Both inside and out.” And that made Mark so happy, to know that Ethan knew but didn’t care. To know that he wasn't angry.

Tyler was quiet though.

Mark frowned, his joy fading. “Hey, Tyler? You’re not upset at me, are you?”

“Nah, not really.” He responded, and it sounded genuine, so Mark took it, squashing the sad feeling starting in his chest. “I’m just thinking.”

“About what Zero said after I left?” Mark took a wild guess, and the other two didn’t even seem surprised that he knew. He’s been known for eavesdropping. “I hope you two know that that’s not going to happen. Our mission is that man, not me. If I get hurt, it’s my own stupid ass fault.”

“How do you deal with it?” Ethan asked suddenly, changing the conversation. He did it on purpose, but his eyes still shone with curiosity as he spoke. “Blank’s voice by itself is one too many. How can you deal with multiple voices in your head?”

Mark shrugged, feeling a small smile grace the corners of his mouth. “Dunno, I was already pretty crazy, so I guess it doesn’t matter. They don’t talk too much either, just a sly remark here and there. Dark talks the most, along with Dr. Iplier. Wilford puts in words here and there, and then Google is usually quiet until he’s needed for information.”

“Four of them?” Tyler asked, and his tone made Mark smug. “Damn.”

“Indeed.” Ethan echoed, amazed.

Mark tried for a smile, which only ended up as something awkward. He adjusted his outfit once, before clapping. “Let’s get going! We got a damsel in distress!”

  
  


The tunnels that lead underneath the quadrant was created by rebels with earth magic. The tunnels didn’t connect to the hideout, but they were close, so it was easy to sneak in, even with the extra officials patrolling the area.

Mark made sure to thank Azalia when he passed for the dog bed, but afterwards it was quiet as he led the group through the tunnels.

Their team always consisted of Ethan, Tyler, himself, Bob, and Wade. They were only one group in the whole of the Rebels, but they were the ones who usually dealt with ego evacs. The others did others things important to the rebellion.

It was dead silent for a while, until Wade clapped his hands together. “Oh! It makes so much sense now!” He exclaimed.

“Thanks for alerting everyone to our presence.” Bob muttered, but his tone was light and joking.

Wade ignored him. “Your ego power has to do with why you’re so good at navigating this place- and wait!” He looked indignant for a moment. “Those melons! That’s why you could carry all those melons!”

Ethan perked up. “You got melons?”

Mark chuckled at his love of the green and red fruit. “Yeah, Ethan, we did. And yes, Dark helps me with everything shadow related.”

“You have a dark boi, don’t you?” Ethan smiled, something big and genuine and Ethan really was too young to be in the rebellion. He was barely out of childhood, but here he is, risking his freedom for this cause.

Mark squashed the fury directed at the rebellion and kingdom as a whole. It was Ethan’s choice to be here, he should respect it. “An emo, more like it.” Mark joked.

 **_Hey._ ** Dark sounded insulted.

 _It’s true._ Mark said. “He’s an emo ego.” He paused. “We’re almost there.”

The group quieted again, and Mark lead them towards an opening. From there, they climbed up into the cobbled streets above. Tyler led them towards the address they were given, and it was then that Bob spoke.

“Smart man.” Bob praised, approval high in his voice. “No one will notice if a man with an ego goes away during a party.”

They started to move in when Mark paused. “Something feels wrong here.”

“You feel it too?” Ethan asked softly. “I thought I was the only one. Something’s not right.”

“I feel it too.” Tyler said, and it was clear to Mark that something ego related was happening inside. Something bad. Up ahead, a few guards were scanning people as they walked in. Mark’s breath caught, but then Tyler was handing him a tie. “It hacks the device, says we’re magically enabled.”

Mark took it, tying it on haphazardly. He kept a face as he was scanned, and almost pissed himself when the guard paused. His relief was palpable when the guard let him though.

Walking through the thick double doors, he almost wished he was found out.

Because, in bright words on a large banner right in front of him spelled out _Ego Ring_ and Mark suddenly wanted to puke at the chain linked boxing ring he saw beneath him.

  


“That’s him.”

They had been there for thirty minutes or so, sitting and enjoying light drinks as they waited for their target to show up. No matches had started, yet, and Mark was grateful for it. He doesn’t know if he could stomach it.

Tyler nodded in a certain direction after he spoke, and Mark turned to look at a brown hair man with a beard, edging around and looking very uncomfortable. Their eyes met for a few moments, and he started to make his way over.

Before he could, though, the lights dimmed, and spotlights aimed at the arena turned on. A speaker up above started up.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the entertainment of tonight!” A light but cool male voice started in the radios, and Mark felt his stomach drop. “We have three different opponents set up for our champion tonight, but if you’re new here, let me introduce you to Venus!”

A door by the boxing ring was pulled open and oh god Mark wasn’t ready to have to watch this. Judging by the looks on his friends faces, they weren’t either.

A female, who’s ego’s name must be Venus or something, walked out, all lean muscle. She wore a complete face mask, and her long dirty blond hair was in two braids down to her knees, but the aura she radiated was fearsome.

“Venus, owned by the Gazelle family, with the power of elongated nails- wouldn’t want to cut those! Reigning champion for a year now. Now, her opponent, Nexus!”

Another door opened, and a male made of pure hunky muscle seemed to bounce out into the box. It grumbled and almost seemed to roar, and Mark wondered how much of that was human and how much was ego. It was monstrous, much too big to be human.

“Nexus, owned by the Yulfur family, with the power of poison gas! Make sure you in the close crowd take your complementary gas mask! Okay egos, you may start in…”

A buzzer started, counting down three before ringing. Nexus roared, running at Venus, gas starting from his fingertips.

Venus laughed lightly, waiting until he was on her before jumping up and over him. As she flipped over him, her nails elongated from her white gloved hands, and she swiped along his neck. In a torrent off blood, Nexus jumped away as Venus landed easily on the ground.

Nexus clamped a hand over the back of his neck, grunting. The arena was starting to be full of gas, but Venus just batted it away, jumping up and hanging onto the top of the metal cage for better air. After a moment, a fan in the middle of the cage started, stopping the gas from spreading and blocking the sight of the fight.

Nexus jumped up to reach her, arms extended to grab her, but she jumped as well, landing on his big hands (this guy is literally bigger than the hulk) and swiping across them. The guy roared in pain as six or seven fingers fell to the ground. Mark coughed, hiding his gag behind his hand. He’s killed before, but this was maiming… and people were _enjoying_ it.

The crowd cheered as Nexus clutched his stubby hand with his other stubby hand. Venus landed behind him, walking up easily to finish him off.

Nexus, though, was apparently not done, as he grabbed Venus was the little digits he had left, moving his head to bite into her side (from breast to hip because damn he’s large). Venus screamed in pain, swiping at him. With a resounding thunk, Nexus’ head rolled off his shoulders, but when Venus finally got out of his jaws, half of her torso was mangled, her pink bodysuit destroyed.

“And we have a winner! Venus of the Gazelle family!” The announcer was back, and everyone cheered as Venus struggled to her feet. She gave a shaky bow, and started limping back to the door she came from. She made it half way before collapsing, and a few people rushed from the doors, picking her up and carrying her away. “Venus will fight again in ninety minutes! Please enjoy the food during your wait.”

The announcement turned off, and Mark finally looked away from the cage. Tyler’s and Ethan’s faces were ashen with shock, and Wade and Bob were looking down there with disgust, as if they’ve seen an ego match before.

Mark didn’t want to know.

“Do you see why I want to get him out of here now?”

The man Mark had seen earlier sat down in an open seat. “The library?” He said.

“Juice and tea then.” Tyler responded, and the noble sagged in relief. Whatever code that was, now done, made the noble speak a little more surely. “He’s been in ego fights before, but never against one of this magnitude. I don’t want him doing this anymore.”

“Where is he?” Bob asked the man.

“In the back.” The man responded, taking out a remote from his pocket and handing it to Tyler. “It’s the control to his collar. He’s signed under my name, but I have no control over what happens to him, it’s my family’s choice. I would’ve never-“ he paused. “He’s in real bad shape. He’s been in five ego fights in two days- he’s had no time to heal. And how Venus is right now, that’s how most living egos end a fight, if that well at all.”

“Come back with us to get him.” Mark said, and he knew he had surprised the noble. “You seem to be in good graces with him. He’d probably feel better if he knew someone when we go to get him.”

The noble nodded, rubbing his hands together. “Right, right. Let’s go. He’s in the fight after the next one, so no one should be with him now.” He got up, before turning back. “Oh, yeah, I should-“ he rubbed his hands on his pants, before holding it out to the closest person, being Mark. “I’m Brad. And the one I want you to help is named Felix.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell, I’ll be taking this story as seriously as possible. I put serious and angst in the tags for a reason- so there probably won’t be many jokes in this. I mean, this story has people owning other people like they were dogs, they even got shock collars. Happy endings, though, cause I’m a sucker for them.


	2. Chapter 2: Mystery Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone new, someone interesting, someone dangerous.  
> Someone not quiet all there...

Brad lead them through some empty hallways, and Mark was worried for a moment of a trap before Brad opened a door and inside was who he assumed to be Felix.

The man was indeed in bad shape, bruised and battered. Dr Iplier was pointing out all of the broken and shattered bones in his body as he observed the man. He was blond, with light blue icy eyes. Without the cuts and bruises, he’d definitely be attractive, but at the moment it looked like he couldn’t even stand.

“Hey, hey.” Brad crouched next to the half asleep man. “Felix, get up. It’s time to go, remember what I said?”

Felix’s eyes snapped open, and he took in the scene, eyes dawning in realization, before he started trying to scramble up. He made a strangled noise when he couldn’t, something in between severe pain, surprise, and hopelessness.

“He has a snapped femur in one leg and broken bones in his opposite foot and ankle.” Mark spoke up, barely even realizing that he was relaying what Dr. Iplier was saying. It was usually Bob’s job to take care of their rescues and medic the team. “He can’t walk on his own. I’ll carry him.”

Felix glanced at Brad, who nodded, before nodding himself. Mark crouched next to him, and Mark let Dr. Iplier rattle off some more problems the man had, speaking out a few of them. “Several broken or cracked ribs. Shattered humerus in your left arm, broken wrist on your right-“ He waited as Tyler helped him take the collar off. “Bruising on the neck from asphyxiation, popped right kneecap, cracked pelvis. Bleeding from several deep gashes around your torso. The only thing not hurt in your body is your vertebrae, and let's just stay away from your organ and tissue problems. Got a crack in your skull… and pulled vocal cords. If you didn’t have an ego, you’d be dead. Very dead. But since you have one you should make a complete recovery. Even your voice.”

He didn’t realize it was silent until after he had picked Felix up.

“You… are a very good doctor.” Brad murmured, surprise clear in his voice.

Mark blinked, before glancing at his friends. They all had different levels of shock on their faces, but at least it seemed like Bob was listening in on what he was saying. “It’s another… ah… you know…”

They, thankfully, just nodded. Mark shifted, putting his arms exactly where Iplier told him to, as to not hurt the man anymore.

Tyler snapped out of it first. “Let’s go. What’s the best backway we can go?”

Brad lead them out a backdoor, and they had made it to an alley, unluckily quite far from the entrance to the tunnel.

Mark made his way into a dark alley, barely making it to a shadowy corner when someone behind him shouted out. “Hey! Wait a moment!”

“Shit.” Bob murmured, and his fears were confirmed. He was suddenly very aware of the egos in his head telling him to calm down and keep thinking straight. “Head towards the tunnel. We’ll meet you inside.”

Mark nodded, and the voice spoke again. “Who are you talking to-“

The man who stopped them walked into the alleyway. Mark willed the shadows around him, concealing him and Felix from view. Unluckily, he was just a little to slow, and they made eye contact as Mark disappeared from view.

“They had a guy with them.” The man said to people he couldn’t see. Fuck, fuck fuck. “Unidentified ego! Stay alert!”

Dark shifted the shadows around him as he started moving along the wall. Peeking around the corner at the other side of the alley, he pressed his back flat to the wall as two men passed him from the way he came, looking for him, probably. He could still hear his friends being questioned about who he was. Mark prayed that Tyler and Ethan still wore the ties that made them show up as magic users.

Taking another glance, he looked towards the way that the tunnel resided. After taking a second, he switch alley sides, shifting along the wall to still be hidden by shadows after he left the alley.

It took him a moment to notice that the shadows ended abruptly in front of him, light swathing the area. He paused, mind on overdrive to figure out what to do. He could see several men now, searching the streets. They knew he had an ego, which would cause a bit of an uproar (an unowned ego? Glory days!) but Mark had the terrible feeling that they knew who he was.

Scanning around, he found a dark shack next to one of the nicer houses. It was probably used to house servants and egos if they had any. Mark glared at the shabby little hut- it looked identical to where he lived when he was younger.

Shouldering Felix, who had fallen asleep, he looked around. It’d be across an open street to reach the place, with no cover whatsoever.

There was one group of men looking his way, which was the biggest problem. Taking a breath, he sent a shadow towards a door on the other side of them, causing it to creak in. The men jumped, turning around quickly and sneaking towards the sound. Mark took the moment, darting across the street as quickly as possible. Awaiting shadows on the other side openly embraced him, and he melted back into them, stilling to see if he had been seen.

He heard nothing.

Sneaking back along the wall, he made it to the worn down shack, carefully opening the door before slipping in, closing it behind him.

It was smaller, smaller than he thought, only one room with three windows on each side besides the door side. A few ratty rugs laid sprawled on the floor, but besides that, it was empty. Mark growled lowly, this is where nobles made other people live, without beds or anything of comfort.

Mark carefully placed Felix on the ground, moving in between each window to find the best escape route. Deciding on the back window, which lead to a thin, long alley, he turned back to the unconscious man, checking him over once more.

The only big problem would be the long thin scratches the collar left on his neck, which would scar. They always scarred, maybe because the collar left some of it’s nulling powers behind, or maybe because it was a mental trauma. Mark was just happy he’s never worn one. Not only is it a sad thing to see, but it pointed you out to other people. If your neck was scarred, you’re more likely to have an ego.

Mark checked the man’s wrist and sighed. It wasn’t healing properly. Dr Iplier was already reciting different ways to fix the problem, but they both knew it would heal wrong if they didn’t re-break it.

“Need some help there?”

Mark froze, hair on his neck standing up. Spinning around, he already had his fists up as the new guy crouched underneath the window he had climbed through.

The man held up hands, trying to placate him. “Woah, woah! I’m not trying to cause any trouble. Your friend looks hurt, though. I can help.”

He started walking forward, when Mark’s hand came out to stop him. The man was cloaked, so he couldn’t get much of a description, but they were around the same height, so he could do that with no problem.

The man didn’t try to pass him, only turning to look directly at him. “You do realize I could’ve already told the guards where you were. Instead I’m here, trying to help.”

**_From his clothing,_ ** Google observed.  **_It looks like he’s hiding from them as well._ **

Mark smiled slightly, thanking Google in his head. “You sure? It looks like the guards would more likely chase you then follow you.”

“Chase me instead of you?” The man huffed, and he could feel the smirk the man had. “I might be important, but more important than the man with multiple egos?”

Mark stilled, and he swore he could see the man smirk now, before he passed by Mark, kneeling next to Felix and holding a hand over him. A light green glow emerged from Felix’s body, and he could see the man relax as he went into a deeper sleep.

Mark stared at the man -he had to have an ego- as he stayed there, hand above the unconscious man’s body, before he stood back up. The hood turned towards him, and his guard went back up. “I was expecting more, to be honest.” The man paused, before muttering the last part to what seemed to be himself. “But that is hypocritical of me, isn’t it?”

Mark didn’t feel safe in the slightest. He couldn’t see the man’s gaze, but he could feel it. It felt hungry, like the man was a scientist, observing something never seen before. Or a noble who just found an ego without an owner.

He held his hand out, palm facing the man, letting a bullet of pink light form in there as a warning. “Thank you.” He licked his lips. He needed to go. “I need to be going.”

The cloaked man tilted his hooded head. “No rush- your friends won’t be waiting for you. They’re held up at the moment.”

He felt a shiver go down his spine. “What did you  _ do? _ ”

The man laughed, throwing his head back in giggles. The hood fell off his head, and for the first time, Mark could see the man’s face. The man was well fed, gaging by his unsunken cheeks, but his brown hair was unkempt and wild, traces of the last haircut only seen by the shorter sides. What really got him was the man’s eyes.

They flickered in between blue and green, just like his changed to red whenever he used his magic. But other people with ego magic didn’t do it when they used magic, only when their egos were in control. Only his did during magic. He thought it was because of his multiple egos, and now someone else had it…

“Nothing. It was the guards you ran into.” The man shrugged, before completely ignoring Mark’s energy bullet and walking closer, sidestepping Felix. “Do you know how high the bounties on your head are?”

Mark forced himself to calm, lowering his hand to stop the energy bullet. He had nothing to be afraid of, he had powers he could use. This man could only heal. “No, and I don’t plan on finding out.”

The man tutted, and as he grew closer, Mark could see hundreds of scars crisscrossing the man’s neck. He’s never seen so many at once. “Enough for me to live comfortably for the rest of my life. The Grand Judgement’s put together their money as well. It could make the poorest normal into the highest aristocrat. Hell, you don’t even need to be turned in. Whoever owns you would immediately rise up the social ladder.”

Mark glared, crossing his arms to hide his shaking hands. He tried to let anger overtake his fear, but he couldn’t. “Why are you reiterating everything I already know?”

The stranger’s face changed then, going darker and Mark couldn’t stop his fear this time. “Because maybe a stranger can get into your head what friends can’t!” The man moved, faster than what he was prepared for. He went to raise his arms when the man stopped, one index finger touching Mark’s throat. “That’s how easy it would be. That much time when you’re placid, and you’ll have a collar on. You’ll have lost.”

Mark swallowed thickly, heart racing, before backing up. The man pulled his hand back, before letting out a breath. “Don’t even think about getting sloppy, no matter how long you’ve outrun them. You cannot imagine the lengths someone would go to...” He paused, cutting off his own thought before gesturing to Felix. “Didn’t have much time, but I healed the worst of the damage. Can’t heal the cuts caused by the collar.” He gestured to his own neck. “I would’ve if I could’ve.”

This man just felt wrong, and Mark wanted to leave, to run. He wiggled his fingers, bringing his heart rate back down. The strangest part of this conversation, though, is that none of his own egos have threatened this man in the slightest. He hasn’t had the slightest inclination to give him the flu or to shoot him, even if he almost did. “I need to go.”

The man’s eyes flashed green, and he nodded, apparently having said all he wanted to say. “I’ll be seeing you soon.” He turned, jumping out of the window he came from.

“I sure hope not.” Mark muttered, scooping Felix back up, glancing him over before looking out the window the man just came from.

He was gone.

“Well whoop-de-do.” Mark muttered. “Got another creepy fucker on my back now- at least I can put a face to this one.”

Felix groaned, and he took that as agreement.

 

**——X——**

 

“Zero wants to see you.” Tyler said as he passed by the lounge. “Again.”

“I know.” He called back. “I’m going… after I’m done with this.”

Mark took the stairs down two at a time, turning and entering a door he barely ever went to. The clinic.

“How’s he doing?” Mark asked as he walked in, unsurprised to see Brad (but surprised to see Marzia) around Felix’s bed. While Mark was with Felix and the mystery man, Brad decided to join the rebellion. He got the whole speech (no going back, you are a new person, ya da ya da ya da-) but joined without a second thought. It was spontaneous, he never said he’d go with Felix, but Mark had the inclination to trust him.

“Almost fully healed.” Brad said standing up. “It’s been two days and he’s almost already fine. I know your egos are strong but…”

Marzia nodded. “It’s a little strange.” Her eyes met Mark, and he could see suspicion swimming around them. “From what Brad told me, Felix’s worst injuries had already healed substantially from before he got back to base. They wouldn't of healed that quickly.”

“Hey.” Mark raised his hands in surrender. “It wasn’t me, I promise. I don’t have that power.”

Marzia continued to stare, before her eyes lost their hardness, and she smiled. “I guess he just has a stronger healing factor than usual.” She murmured.

Mark let out a little breath, relieved to have passed Marzia with no problem. She could read most people better then he wished to imagine. Taking a step back, he turned. “Well, I just wanted to check up- Zero needs me for something.”

Marzia’s head snapped up, and she was on her feet and by his side uncharacteristically quick. “I’ll join you.”

Mark raised an eyebrow, but didn’t speak on it until he had closed the door behind them. “What is it?”

Marzia had adopted a paranoid look, and her head snapped back to him as he spoke. “Hmm?”

Mark wiggled his finger at her head. “What’s going on in your mind?”

She sighed. “Nothing good.”

  
  


It was silent as they made their way towards the command room, something he had done only three days ago. He hadn’t left the base since they rescued Felix- and he had gotten an earful for leaving the group. He had shown up at the tunnels before the rest of the group, luckily, but Zero was still pissed. He was the adult version of grounded at the moment.

“Mark, can you do something for me?” Marzia asked, cutting through the silence.

“‘Course.” He replied. “What?”

“Overplay your powers to Zero.” She replied, and that was a weird thing to ask of him. “I want to test something out.”

Marzia had never given Mark any reason to question her. She’s taken hits for him, and he had her, and he trusts her. He nodded. “Sure, but you’re going to need to explain this afterwards.”

Marzia seemed to calm slightly, smiling as she entered the command room, Mark in toll. “Took you long enough.” Zero murmured from his seat, eyes narrowed and mouth set in a thin, upset line. “Customary to all new egos in our base, we have to figure out your skill set. You said you have four egos, so we’ll need four different objects to test them on.”

Mark has seen ego tests before, he was there when Tyler and Ethan did theirs. He called out the four objects he’d need, watching as One and Three shifted to get them. Marzia had taken her usual spot, and the paranoia she showed earlier was gone. Hidden, more like it, if what Dark was whispering was true.

He waited as a ration, a target, and a radio were placed on the table in front of him. And, just like whenever an ego’s power dealt with humans, One came up to sit backwards in a chair next to the table, laying their hands over the back and resting their head on it, completely relaxed.

“Alright, Name, Power, Demonstration.” Zero called, looking as bored as he does whenever they have to do this, but with a sparkle of curiosity in his eyes. Marzia eyes shifted back and forth between him and Zero. “You know the drill, go on with the first ego.”

And suddenly, he was very, very, nervous. He always knew he could be the one here actually demonstrating, instead of watching, but thinking about it was very different from actually doing it.

**_Don’t be a baby,_ ** Dark groaned.  **_Just get it over with._ ** He felt a metaphysical shove.

Nervousness replaced with irritation, he started, only barely remembering what Marzia asked him to do. “I’ll start off with Dark, the pushy one. He controls shadows, anything that has to do with shadows. I haven’t reach the extent of what he can do with them.” To prove, he created a shadow underneath the ration on the table. The little thing disappeared, before he created another shadow next to Marzia, pulling it up and out into her awaiting hand.

“This is what you did with the food, right?” Three asked, waiting for him to confirm. “Can you do it with living things?”

Mark shifted, slightly uncomfortable. “Never tried it before-“

“Oo, I want to try it!” One interrupted from where they were sitting, raising their hand like a child in class. “Try it on me!”

“Not now.” Zero waved away the idea. “You’re for another demonstration. Continue on with the second ego.”

One pouted as Mark continued. “Next one would probably be Wilford. Uh, he likes pink, and that’s the only thing really consistent with him. His thing is energy bullets, pink, of course. It’s-“ he trailed off, at a lost for words. He really couldn’t describe Wilford. “Here.”

He raised his hand, letting a bullet of energy form in his vertically flat palm and pushing it forward. It ripped through the target, digging into the painted walls and the earth behind it.

Zero took a second to look behind him, before continuing. “Let’s see the third one.”

Mark paused. It felt like he was taking an oral exam, and he was failing. Glancing at the device in front of him, though, made him inwardly smirk. “I say Google is next. He’s a data storage base- basically a mix of electronics and a human itself. He’s pretty good with distorting or messing with devices. The only one he has problems with is the magic and ego checker.”

He takes a step towards the device they laid out in front of him, placing a hand on it. It was an old database they had used before upgrading, but it would serve his purpose just fine. Closing his eyes, he reached out to the databases actually full of information, accessing them easily.

**_Override bypassed, alarms silenced, short term memory wiped._ ** Google chirped.  **_Person’s folders downloading.  . . Completed._ **

He allowed himself a little smile, transferring the information to the database he was touching. Afterwards, he made the old thing short circuit… quiet loudly, just to prove that he was doing something. Going a little farther, he didn’t stop until the thing started to smoke.

He looked up, a mask of sheepishness on his face. “Sorry.” He mumbled. “I can fix it… it’ll take me a bit though.”

If Marzia could see through his charade, she didn’t say. “Gives you something to do when you're bored.” She said with a grin towards Zero. Zero himself didn’t say anything, which Mark took as acceptance. He muttered a thank you, before pulling the database into a shadow.

“Alright then.” Zero waved his hand in the air, fanning away clouds of smoke from the database. “This is the last ego?”

“Yes.” Mark nodded, and One jumped slightly, excited. “Dr. Iplier, a medical expert. He gives me access to a plethora of medical knowledge, and he can give a person an illness.” He looked towards One. “It’ll just be a cold.”

Mark took a second to close his eyes, before opening them and looking at his superior. One’s face flushed suddenly, and they sneezed, hand dashing up to their runny nose. After a moment, a sneezing fit started up.

“Interesting.” Zero said, and the spark was larger than usual. “Your first three egos all are reversible, but Dr. Iplier seems to not be. Can you take away the illness after you cause it?”

Mark frowned. Reversible egos can reverse whatever they did. Google can distort devices, but he can also take the distortion away. “No, I can only cause a sickness.”

Zero hummed. “We’ll have to look into finding your partner, then. I would say you have a special case, but since only one of your egos aren’t reversible, then you probably have a regular partner somewhere.”

Mark nodded. Most egos had partners, another ego the exact opposite of themselves. Blank and Apocalypse, Ethan’s and Tyler’s egos, were partners. Blank can change or heighten someone’s emotions, while Apocalypse can lower or completely get rid of someone’s emotions. Blank can’t get rid of emotions, and can’t fix any problems he might’ve cause, but Apocalypse can, and vise versa.

He never really thought about it, but that meant Dr. Iplier had an ego partner somewhere out there. It was confusing, was the ego the partner of only the Dr., or of all of them?

His mind went back to the man who healed Felix. The man with an ego that could heal. Dr. Iplier can cause sickness, and his ego could heal-

He shook his head, banishing the thought. He didn’t want to be stuck hanging around that guy because their egos balanced each other. It  _ would _ explain why the guy was helping him instead of turning him in, and why his egos were super relaxed the entire conversation. Even Dark, the paranoid one, seemed fine. God, he hoped that wasn’t what it was. He didn’t need to add a partner for his egos onto his plate.

He really didn’t want to think about it. “I’ll keep on the lookout for his partner.”

Zero nodded. “Good. You’re excused.”

  
  


Mark planned to go right back to his room afterwards, but the curious looks he got somehow lead him up above ground to talk with Azalia. The old lady didn’t take any bullshit, so no one took it up here with them.

“When I was little, I imagine I was a lot like you when you were younger.” She said out of the blue, almost scaring Mark out of his thoughts.

“Pardon?” Mark scrambled to remember his manners. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said.” She chuckled. “The world was mine to imagine. Any small toy could turn into any big magical thing. I saw everything as bright and warm and welcoming. I had done nothing wrong to the world, and the world had done nothing wrong back.”

Mark was still a little startled, but he followed her words. “I was a like that, I guess.” He murmured, not knowing what to say. It was true, he was exactly like what Azalia spoke of, and that was a little weird.

“Our similarities waned as we both got older, though.” Azalia continued. “I was praised for my powers- having two elemental magics happen only once in a lifetime. I was taught to parade my ability. The world gave me everything while I gave nothing back in return.”

Mark stayed silent, keeping any negative thoughts out of his head. He could get upset, but children find out if they have an ego or magic when they’re really young. Azalia was too young to understand why any of it was really happening.

“Now you, on the other hand, was given something more magical than anyone can say, but you were taught to hide your ability. The world gave you a gift labeled as a curse, when you did nothing to deserve it.” Azalia looked away from her knitting, staring Mark down. “But tell me, Mark. Would you rather be normal, or have what you have now?”

Mark didn’t take much time to answer. “I’d rather have my egos.”

“Would you say different if you were caught when you were younger?”

“No.” Mark said without thinking, and he really did feel like it, but Azalia laughed.

“Mark, my boy, think. There’s a reason why your gift is called a curse by those who have it.” Azalia went back to knitting. “The curse doesn’t always hit, but when it does, it leaves its own terrors behind, it’s own cursed marks. You see it around, you see it on your own friends’ necks.”

The scars.

“What is the purpose of this conversation?” Mark grumbled, becoming annoyed.

“Impatient.” Azalia warned. “Think about this for a moment. What if, the roles were reversed? What if nobles had egos and they owned magically enabled people? The people with magic had collars on their neck and danced around in amusement for the egos. What if you were praised for your multiple egos, and I had to hide away my own magic?”

Reversing everyone’s roles? His mother would’ve enrolled him in an ego school, and Thomas would’ve gone into hiding. Mark would be climbing the ranks, showing their mother luxury living while Thomas ran around with the rebellion.

Mark would’ve been the bad guy in people’s eyes. The one tainted by power and greed.

“You don’t have a prejudice against magical people.” Azalia said. “But you will find people that will. Those people don’t care who you really are, only if you have magic or an ego or not. They’ll try and persuade you to their side. Before you do something you’ll regret, think back on this. Remember your team, both magical and ego. Remember the noble who left everything behind to help the man with an ego. Remember that not all magical people are filled with greed, and not all people with egos are victims needing saving, not all of them good.”

 

**——X——**

 

It took Mark half of the night to fix what Google had cause. It shouldn’t of taken so long, but he was thoroughly checking the machine, to make sure there wasn’t any recorders.

Like most databases, this one was small but clunky. He held it with both hands and turned a knob on the side to change files.

**_There are 8,659 different files on this database._ ** Google droned.  **_Separating the persons into three categories, normal, magical, and ego. There are now 6,246 normal, 2,266 magical, and 147 egos._ **

Wow. He knew egos were rare but not that rare.  _ Is that everyone in our kingdom?  _ He asked.

**_Approximately 400 of the magical people are from other kingdoms who have decided to relocate. Approximately 100 egos are from different kingdoms as well. But yes, this is everyone registered in our kingdom, including some self registered and some Rebels have registered._ **

He knew this kingdom had the highest amount of egos, and many egos were moved here, but he never suspected so much. If he looked at everyone born in this kingdom, all 8 thousand or so of them, only 40 or 50 of them are egos. He understood a little bit more of why nobles always jumped on an ego when they find one.

**_Cutting down the ego categories by using filters- male, brown hair, blue eyes- approximately 20 files are left._ **

Mark silently thanked Google (he didn’t want to do it himself) before twisting the knob on the database. Each file had a picture with it, many of them unprofessional, taken while they weren’t even looking. Mark wasn’t surprised, rebels often did that, just so they’d have something to put in a file for yourself. Once you enter the kingdom, you get a file.

He had gone through seven of them until he stopped. Bingo.

The picture was definitely the cloaked man, and he was shaking hands with… Zero? It didn’t look like he saw the picture being taken, but his lips were quirked up like he had an inside joke.

He looked at the tiny text box, squinting.

 

**Name-** _ Jack -Last Name Unknown- _

**Type-** _Ego_

>      **Power-** _ Unknown _

**Alliance-** _None_

 **Notes-** _Only known leader of the criminal underground system. Do not contact alone. Ambitions unknown._

 

Mark looked at it again, rereading it. He looked at the picture once more, making sure, before falling back on his bed. Chica snored in her sleep. Mark groaned. Just his luck.

That one creepy guy he might be stuck hanging around because it balances one of his egos  _ was also  _ a criminal mastermind.

Just. His. Luck.

  
  


Felix was up when he got out of his room the next day. Not just up, but completely healed, up. He sat with Brad and a younger (14? 15?) girl in the lounge, eating a ration and chugging water.

“Hey Mark!” Brad called him over, and he tried his best not to look dead as he walked over.

“Hey.” Mark grinned. “Good to see you’re up.”

Felix grinned back. “Thanks to you, bro. You carried my ass all the way from quadrant 3 like I was a princess.”

Brad frowned, smacking his arm. “Come on, not that kind of language-“ He paused. “Oh, yeah, Mark. This is my little sister, Aloona.”

“Hi.” She pipped, before ducking back down to finish her smoothie. She definitely had magic, since she seemed to be controlling the water in the smoothie, leading it out of the cup and into her mouth.

Mark arched an eyebrow. “Is she… allowed to be here?”

Brad shrugged. “She doesn’t want to go back. She dislikes our family as much as I do.”

Mark doesn’t know how, when, or where she got in the hideout, but no one else was looking at her strangely, so he shrugged it off. His egos were comfortably silent as well, so he took the chance to relax as well.

“I was supposed to bring my brother back home for punishment.” Aloona spoke up. “But instead I got the largest database chip my parents have and took it with me. Zero’s looking at it now.”

Mark didn’t know the dynamics of their family, but to think she could bring Brad back if he was unwilling was hard to believe. “How did your parents-“

“Think I could overpower a full grown man? My brother no less?” Aloona shrugged, smiling a mischievous smile. Something dark fluttered in her eyes. “I’ve had training.”

Brad coughed after a second, taking Mark’s attention away from Aloona. “She’ll go back to our parents empty handed. They’ll think I took the database, and that she’s still loyal. Due to who she is, and her age, no one will suspect her of being a mole.”

“You know, besides the fact that you’re siblings and you guys are close.” Felix inputted, still stuffing himself.

“We haven’t spoken to each other in over two years.” Brad said. “As far as everyone else knows, she hasn’t heard a thing about me until a few days ago.”

Felix frowned. “I don’t want to involve kids in this.”

“Grand Judgement’s been using kids since the beginning, Ego or not.” Brad retorted.

“Want to drop down to their level?”

“Okay guys.” Mark finally butted in. “This is an important conversation, but ultimately it’s up to what the higher ups say.” Mark paused to let his words settle in, before bringing up his own question. “And why wouldn’t she be expected? The age I get, but what do you mean by who she is?”

Felix looked at him like he was stupid. “Do you not keep up with noble proceedings? I feel like that’s pretty important when you're a rebel.”

“That’s not my job.” Mark grunted, because it wasn’t. There were others who did that, and if he needed to know something, he could see if Google knew, but he didn’t need to fill his head with that kind of knowledge. “My job is to get egos and their hosts out of harmful situations, like yours.”

Aloona blinked as Felix stilled. “Wait, What? What harmful situation?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Brad cut in.

“But-“

“Aloona.” His tone was clipped, and he waited until the younger girl quieted before turning to Mark. “My family adopted Aloona into it when we were very young, so we refer to each other as blood siblings when we aren’t. On the contrary, whereas my family is only a quadrant 2 noble, Aloona comes from high level aristocrats. When she is old enough, she is supposed to take over as one of the two leaders of the Grand Judgement.”

  
  


It took Mark two hours of searching before coming to his conclusion. Tyler, nor Ethan, nor Bob and Wade, were in the base.

He contemplated kicking in the command room’s door to speak with him. He knocked instead.

“Come in, Mark.” He heard Zero say, and it must of been his loud, rough, knocks that gave him up.

He entered, surprised to see only Zero there. He didn’t speak on it, going straight to his point. “Did you send my group out on an evac without me?”

“It was reconnaissance.” Zero said calmly, folding his fingers together. “There was no need for you to go.”

Mark narrowed his eyes. “So, instead of sending the man whose face is still relatively hidden and can literally blend into the shadows for a scouting trip, you send a group of four people who just a few days ago was caught with a now known deserter.” Not sending him or another more hidden group was just putting his friends in danger, and that angered him. “Come on, Zero, we both know why you didn’t send nor tell me, so be a man and just say it to my face.”

Zero’s face darkened, much more than Mark thought it would. “Ok then, you really want to hear the reason? You, Mark Fischbach, could be the icon of the rebellion. Not could be, you already are. Not your name or face, but your powers have made this resistance ten times more difficult. We’ve had more spies in the last half a week then we’ve had in the last year. Sending you out on something as small as a scouting mission would be stupid of me. We  _ will not  _ show your face out in public until we are prepared for the consequences.”

Mark knew it made sense, but he was still pissed. His friends, his team, was out there, and even if he would cause more trouble being out there with them, he couldn’t just leave them. If they got hurt, and he could’ve stopped it…

“Tell me when they get back, immediately.” Mark didn’t have the authority to command that, but he didn’t care. He turned on his heel, walking swiftly back to the door.

“Mark.” Zero warned. “No matter how special your situation is, I still expect to be treated with respect.”

This time, Mark’s egos all flared into a fury, and he barely controlled himself as he spun back around. Zero thought he was acting like this because he felt like he was better? Not because he was worried about his friends?

Mark felt his eyes flash red in anger, and he knew Zero saw it, since a sliver of fear ran through the man’s eyes before being replaced with curiosity. He probably hasn’t seen his eyes change color before.

Mark could've thought more about that, but at the moment at least two of his egos were fuming and the other two were yelling in his head. They were fiercely protective of Mark’s friends, and the thought of not being able to help them hurt.

“Believe me, Zero.” Mark hissed, and he felt his voice warp slightly, taking on a little bit of Wilford’s. The next time he spoke, it sounded acutely like Dark’s. “I’d be saying the same thing, egos or not.  **_Don’t get in between those I wish to protect_ ** .”

Mark didn’t realize he had said that last sentence, but didn’t stay around long enough to see Zero’s reaction. He turned back around, walking out the door and slamming it behind him.

“Hi Mark.” Marzia was waiting outside for him. “We need to talk about what I said before.”

 

**——X——**

 

“You haven’t given that back yet?”

Marzia was pointing at the fixed database on Mark’s desk. Mark froze for a moment, afraid of being found out, but this was Marzia. Marzia, the girl was all warm smiles and kind words. Her heart would be here for whoever needed it. Even after what happened at their last base, she almost stubbornly held onto her morals and judgement. She didn’t give in, even though sometimes you could see the darkness flickering in her eyes.

“I was checking something out.” Mark replied, picking up a half awake Chica and settling on his bed, petting her slowly. “I’ll give it back later.”

Marzia arched an eyebrow, edges of her mouth playing with a smile. “And might I know what you were checking out?”

His first instinct said to stay silent. She had no reason to know, it wasn’t her business. But his egos said different. If something happened, if he met the cloaked man -Jack- and was captured or kidnapped, no one would know what happened to him. There was little known on him in the database, so it was clear that the man was secretive. He could disappear and never resurface, and the rebellion would be none the wiser on where he was.

He’d be alone.

“After you tell me what that little ‘test’ was for.” Mark relented. Marzia’s small smirk went into a full blown grin, which lightened his mood and thoughts.

Marzia took his desk chair, crossing her legs and lacing her fingers together. Her brows furrowed, deep in thought, before speaking. “Zero is a smart man, he wouldn’t of made it this far if he wasn’t. He isn’t an empathetic person, he knows how to use people based on their power and who is more important than someone else. He’ll sacrifice a pawn for the queen to checkmate the king.”

Her words made Mark shiver, but she spoke as if she was just stating facts. Her face was hard but smooth in thought, and Mark wondered what was flying through her head at the moment. “The rebellion needs a man thinking of the whole, not the single rebel.” He spoke, understanding but still hating. He can hate all he wants, but if that was his position, the rebellion wouldn’t of lasted.

Marzia nodded. “But at the moment, he’s not playing chess, he’s playing checkers blindfolded.” Marzia looked up. “And a piece just got to the other side of the board.”

A piece was just crowned. A normal checker piece turned into a king with unlimited abilities. It moved across the board under Zero’s nose, and Zero couldn’t see it with the mask over his eyes. Where Zero thought he was playing chess, where he could anticipate every move and fight back, while he was blinded the game changed. Mark had unwittingly thrown him off kilter. “He doesn’t know what to do with me.” Mark stated. “He couldn’t’ve seen this coming.”

It was then that Marzia looked at him, solemnly calm. “He’s been in situations with worst outcomes.” She waved it away. “No, that is not what I wanted to see. I wanted to judge Zero’s expressions.”

Mark paused. “Uh, What?”

“Zero is a man who will use everything to its last breath. When a especially powerful piece is moved into play, and he can hold it in his fingers and move it at will, he will do it without hesitation. I wanted to see what his thoughts were on your abilities.” Marzia looked up, and Mark saw a cold that rarely ever showed up there. “He’s always wearing a hidden mask, but after a while, it’s easy to see through. He watched you with curiosity and interest, but his eyes were hungry- hungry for the power you hold.”

Mark knew where she was going with this, but he didn’t want to believe it. “Well, having a strategically placed pawn is a winner’s mark.”

Marzia looked at him, before continuing like he didn’t speak. “Tyler and Ethan have been here for years, myself even longer. Zero has taken his time documenting everything we do that is deemed irregular. I don’t think they’ve noticed, but Zero looks at egos like a scientist looks at a new specimen. He might be working to free egos and their hosts from captivity, but he has his own personal agenda as well. And you’ve made it sneak out from it’s hidden place. Watch yourself around him, though I doubt he’ll hurt any of us.”

She stopped speaking, but Mark was still in some form of shock. She had just dropped this entire thing on him like it was nothing. Granted, it’s just her speculations, so it could be nothing, but Mark didn’t like the idea. True, whenever he showed any power whatsoever, Zero’s eyes would gleam and he’d lean in, if just a little, but Mark could just as easily be as captivated if it was the other way around. Azalia said to look at it from another angle, reversed. He’d do that as much as he could. “His questions on the topic were more specific then what he asked Tyler or Ethan.”

Marzia paused, before her head snapped up, like a thought had just occurred. “I hadn’t even thought of the partner question.” She murmured. “Imagine if one of your egos needed a partner, how much stronger his power would become.” She paused. “This will sound rude, but I’m glad that his partner hasn’t been found, I don’t want to drag someone else into Zero’s sight. Someone’s ego who is partnered with the multi ego man?”

It was then that Marzia had noticed that Mark had stilled, face pale. “Mark?”

Mark jumped slightly, before rubbing the back of his neck. Chica snored on his lap. “That actually… blends well into what I was going to tell you.” He winced at the surprised look on her face. She had figured that out pretty quickly. “When I was separated from the others while evacing Felix, I met this man with an ego that could heal.”

The soft “oh no.” That emerged from Marzia made him wince again. “Yeah.” He said. “He told me I needed to always stay alert, no matter where I was. He knew who I was- he was watching my team, he knew where the tunnels were. I got a look at his face, and since I knew he could heal, and had an ego, I transferred files onto the old database so I could look through them.”

In another circumstance, he could imagine Marzia congratulating him for his idea, or berating him. Now, though, she just looked concerned. “I’m guessing you found out who it was? The man with your ego’s partner.”

Mark exhaled. “Do you know of a criminal named Jack?”

  
  


He was having trouble getting to sleep.

Marzia’s words repeated in his head, over and over again. He replayed the entire conversation over and over again in his head, but his thoughts travelled back to one place in particular.

“ _ Jack’s been to the old base. I’ve only seen him once. _ ” Marzia had said after a while of silence. “ _ He’s… he’s not right. Not in the head. I can’t explain it. And the scars on his neck, I think they’re a big reason for it. To have that many scars, they’d be from repeatedly putting on and taking off the collar, for electrocution. That may happen when someone’s passed onto several different families, a different collar for each, but that many… _ ” She paused. “ _ That much pain could take away the sanity from even the strongest man. _ ”

Her words replayed over and over again, and he groaned, covering his eyes with his hand. Chica snored in her bed, a tired pup, and Mark wanted to just enjoy watching her until he fell asleep, but his thoughts were fully focused on her words.

Suddenly, he yanked his hand from his face, an idea popping up so brilliantly in his head that he could kiss his own forehead.  _ Dr. Iplier! _

**_Oh, hello._ ** The doctor spoke, slightly confused. It was the middle of the night, and Mark didn’t know if egos needed sleep, but if they did they’d be getting it now.  **_You seem to be getting worse by the hour Mark. You're dying._ **

In tune to the doctor’s usual greeting, he paid it no mind, continuing his thought process.  _ Do you have a partner, Doctor? _

He heard Iplier sigh, and that was all he need to know. Egos with partners were the equivalent of Ying and Yang, half of a whole. Once finding each other, it be like cutting them in half if the hosts push them away. He’s seen it happen with Apocalypse and Blank- Tyler had to go on a two week mission. When he came back, Blank had started melting into the real world, subtly taking control of Ethan’s body at certain points and making him put everyone through the loneliness he felt.

By the time Tyler got back, they had already had several Rebels try to jump off roofs, and Ethan (mostly Blank) had been confined to his room.

He would go as far to say that ego partners had an infatuation with each other. Being by their partners made them stronger, and egos loved being strong, even if their host doesn’t. It was a power play just as much as it was a bond. So he wasn’t surprised when Dr. Iplier sighed like he had just swooned.

**_Oh, yes, I do._ ** He chuckled.  **_I’m the only one in your head that does. Wilford and Dark have-_ ** he trailed off. **_And Google’s incapable. It goes against his magic._ **

**_I don’t need a half to make me stronger._ ** Google spoke.  **_Knowledge is power, and I beat everyone in that aspect. I don’t need someone else to make me more powerful._ **

The doctor hissed, full blown hissed, and Mark stepped in before they fought and he got a headache.  _ Dr. Iplier, do you know who your partner is? And who, if you know? _

Dr. Iplier was back in his dreamy state, and he almost purred as he answered.  **_He’s nearby~_ **

Mark was actually slightly grossed out by how off putting one of his egos was acting. He doubted this was actually what the ego felt, but he knew that a primal instinct came over them when it came to partners. An ego was, in short, just a being of raw magical energy, nestled inside a human host. Of course the raw, animalistic, primal being that made up an ego would love the thought of being stronger, of being whole. It was a lot of trouble for the hosts, but having their ego be happy usually made it worth it.

He paused then. What did he mean by nearby?

He was made acutely aware of what was happening moments before it happened.

Dark blue, almost grey, smoke curled underneath his door, piling into his room. Mark instinctively brought his hand up to cover his nose, fearing poison. The smoke circled the ground, before a figure started forming in the smoke. After a few short moments, the figure, now fully formed, stepped out of the smoke.

Mark’s heart stopped for a moment, and a scream became lodged in his chest. He managed to take a few deep gasping breaths as Jack came out of the smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imma say right now... I really am proud of how this story has turned out so far. I don’t have a favorite between this story and my others on the egos, but I really feel like I pushed my writing with this one. There might be a few mistakes, I wouldn’t doubt it, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless. Lemme just say... things are gonna get a lot more crazy.
> 
> More ego partners in the future. Comment any questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them. But if the comment reads like a theory, I might not answer it, even though I love reader your theories. Thanks for reading


	3. Chapter 3: Siren’s Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He’s following is gut, and it lead him to old and new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important note about story info at end notes

He wasn’t wearing a cloak anymore, but he was decked out in clothes only a high level aristocrat could afford. He wore an impish grin, as if he had just pulled the greatest trick, but his eyes (green, he noted) held something not quite as innocent.

Mark realized then that of course he’d be seeing him again. Not only did he say so himself, but if this man’s ego was one of his own’s partner, of course he’d come back. Not only would his own ego be stronger, but he’d have a hold on the man with multiple egos, a hold stronger than any other one he had right now- besides family. It was a perfect situation for him.

His heart seemed to start back up, and he did the thing that could probably help him the most in the long run. He opened his mouth, a scream building up in his throat.

Jack saw what he was doing, and zipped forward, clamping a hand over his mouth. It was cold, icy cold, and he stopped his half scream mostly from surprise. A hand this cold belonged to a dead person, which Jack obviously was not.

The hand over his mouth was strong, so he gave up that fight, instead moving his arms, fists aiming for the man’s stomach. His left wrist was caught by Jack’s free hand, and he held it over Mark’s own chest. He went to attacking with only his right hand, when another hand caught that one, doing the same as before.

Mark’s eyes widen in surprise, looking around. He hadn’t seen someone else enter the room. His confusion grew when he saw no one else, and then it turned into horror as he saw an extra limb growing out from Jack’s body. His struggling grew as fight or flight fully took over his mind.

“I can’t let you go if you keep on fighting.” He heard Jack say, but could barely pay attention, because his mind was in a panic and was he getting kidnapped? “Calm down and I’ll let you go.”

It took a few moments of Jack repeating his words, softer and smoother (and his eyes were so green, he’s never seen them like that-) as he went, before Mark finally stopped his struggling. He stilled, going limp against the three hands holding him, and a wave of relief washed through him as Jack let go, the extra limb disappearing as he did. “See? We’re all good.” Jack said, holding his hands up peacefully, and Mark wasn’t sure if this was the same man he had met before, this one easily much more playful and light and overall  _ warm _ .

“ _ He’s not right. _ ” Marzia’s words echoed in his mind. “ _ Not in the head… That much pain could take away the sanity from even the strongest man. _ ”

“Why…” Mark licked his lips, throat dry. “How, why, are you here?”

Jack grinned. “Why is easy, I wanted to see you. How… well…” he gestured to himself, “I’m not really here. This is an illusion.”

Mark looked him over once. His eyes were green, so that made sense, and his body was slightly transparent, not to also mention the fact that he had an extra limb a second ago. How he could touch stuff as an illusion, he didn’t know.

“Why did you want to see me?” Mark asked, slowly inching away from the man as Mark sat up on his bed. Afterwards, he added lowly, “You could’ve at least knocked.”

Jack heard, though, and laughed, light and airily. “I didn’t realize, I never gave you a way to find me.” He shifted around, before his eyes landed on Mark’s notepad and he took a pen, scribbling an address on it. “In case you're looking for me.”

“Why would I want to find you?” Mark asked, not to nicely. “You're a criminal,  _ Jack, _ and apparently one of the important ones too _. _ And that’s some pretty good use of real objects, for you to apparently be an illusion.”

For a second, Mark was afraid that he had riled him up, but Jack didn’t look offended, though, just smiling and striking a pose. “I’m pretty good at making illusions, and I know you’ll want to meet soon enough.” He backed up, giving a playful wink. “Tell me if you have anyone you want me to heal.”

And the illusion was gone, smoke disappearing into nothing.

Mark took a second, scanning the room sharply before lying back down. Chica had slept through the entire thing, but Mark didn’t pay much attention, because why did Jack think he’d want to-

Mark paused, hand that was coming up to his hair dropping. Jack could make illusions. Jack could heal. Jack could make illusions and heal.  _ Jack could do both. _

Jack could do something that required multiple egos.

Jack  _ had _ multiple egos.

He had sounded so sure, he knew Mark would come and find him, and now Mark knew why. He wasn’t the only man with multiple egos... there was now someone else.

Mark growled, squeezing his pillow, before getting up and writing a note of favor to Marzia, so she could watch Chica. After he was done, he took his backpack (had the thing for ten fucking years at least), stuffing in some items.

Jack thought Mark would go look for him.

Jack was right.

 

**——X——**

 

“And where are you going in the middle of the night?”

Mark froze, cursing himself quietly for not realizing that Azalia might be out. She might be an elder, but she did her job better than almost anyone did anything in the rebellion. It was one of the reasons why Zero stationed her here.

He had meant to leave through the back window, but Azalia had caught him before it even came to that. He turned around, giving off a sheepish grin he hoped would fool her. “I’m going to find my friends, they haven’t returne-“

The hard look he received made him pause. “Mark, where are you really going?” She crossed her arms, and it was like she had turned into a mother scolding her child. Mark instinctively adapted into that role, turning meekish.

“I need to find someone.” He said instead. “It’s important… really important.”

He’s used that excuse on her before, but that important stuff use to be a midnight snack run, or walking Chica. Azalia always allowed walking Chica about, but Mark didn’t have her with him and it would be stupid to think that she didn’t know that he was supposed to stay in the hideout.

It must’ve been the way he said it, though, that gave her pause. “Who are you looking to find?” She said, her voice no longer clipped, but soft and soothing. Mark really only got that voice from two people, her, and his mother. Other woman have tried the voice before, but none of them can really master it the way a mother can. Was Azalia ever a mother?

She's never talked about her kids, but thinking back on it, it would be foolish to think she didn’t have any. If it was possible that she could produce more dual magical people, then nobles would definitely go for it. And Azalia wasn’t the type to hide her past, so if she did have kids, then she hasn’t said anything for a big reason.

Mark wrinkled his nose, thinking mostly of that fact when he spoke. “I’m going to go look for my ego’s partner.”

And it was then that Azalia’s eyes widened, before turning soft once more. Even for her old age, she still moved swiftly over to Mark, wrapping him in a motherly embrace. Before letting go, she whispered. “I never saw you.”

And she let go, turning back around and settling back in her rocking chair.

Mark stood still for a moment, before looking around the room. He’s passed this room to many times to count, but he has never actually examined it closely. Even though he comes up to speak with Azalia on occasion (she had the best advice), he always does on the porch, away from her possessions.

He spotted a picture frame on the wall, and silently moved over to examine it. His theory became true as he saw a young Azalia sitting down for the picture, a four or five year old boy on her lap. He’s never seen her look so happy, arms locked around the boy in a hug, chin on the top of his head, loving eyes gazed down at him as the little boy smiled a toothy smile at the camera. The quality of the camera was high as well, which told him this was a picture taken while she was still a noble. Before she joined the rebellion. Before the rebellion was a thing to begin with.

She looked so happy and content, Mark wondered why she ever left, and where was the boy, her son, now? Was he still a noble? But he doesn’t think Azalia’s the type to leave her son and join the other side, no matter how much she believes in the cause.

**_Maybe she changed sides because of her son…_ ** Dr. Iplier said slowly, and the sadness in his next words told Mark he wasn’t joking this time.  **_I’m sorry, but the child is dead._ **

The agreement he felt the other egos give made a hole in stomach. His egos all believed that the child died, and if he thought about it, it made sense. If her son died because of something a noble did, that would be more than enough, for him, at least, to change sides and join the rebellion. Why he died, though, he could only guess.

Realizing he had been staring at the picture for to long, he turned on his heel, marching quietly to the back window. He had just climbed out when he heard Azalia speak again, almost as if talking to the wind. Without his heighten senses, he wouldn’t of heard her.

“His name was Cole, and he loved his ego so very much.”

  
  


Mark took the tunnel into the noble quarter, popping up close to the address and blending into the shadows. The tunnel journey itself was quiet and eerie without anyone else with him, and for once in his life, the darkness didn’t feel as friendly as usual. He had always been paranoid, but now it felt like the darkness itself would jump out at him.

Dark had berated him about that, calling it insulting, but Mark was just telling the truth. Everything had felt so much lighter and brighter before his secret came out. His evacs were always hard, but they would joke and laugh and make it work. Now he wasn’t even with his team. He was a danger to them.

He had always felt alone due to his egos, he had always felt a little different to everyone else. It could be ignored when no one knew, but now it was just a flashing light in his face, and he wanted it gone. He wanted to feel like everyone else. He didn’t want to feel special, because he wasn’t.

It was why he needed to find Jack, to know what he knows. Jack had to have multiple egos, and even if he didn’t he had the partner to Dr. Iplier. Ego partners were normal, he’d be normal. But if he couldn’t, he wanted to find those who were considered special, others with multiple egos.

Something told him, something deep inside him, told him that he and Jack were the only ones with multiple egos. That negates the new cause he had just thought up.

Mark left the tunnels in the second quadrant of the noble quarter, and unlike the darkness the regular people lived in at night, the quadrant was filled with light, every house with a light blazing out front, most with lights out inside, but it was still bright and finding a shadow was becoming harder and harder.

He took off his glasses, taking the tie he had ‘borrowed’ from the rebellion and tying it on. He didn’t know how often people were checked, but he was now with lower aristocrats and high nobles; it didn’t hurt to wear it, in case someone did check him.

He made it only a block in the shadows before something caught his eye. Narrowing them to focus, he made it around a few buildings (this area seemed to be mostly recreational buildings), and paused at the scene playing out in front of him.

Tyler and Ethan, for whatever reason, were ducking down in a semi dark alleyway, going as low as possible, since there were a few guards circling the perimeter. Mark made his way into the alley, and saw that each side was blocked off by guards, even though the guards didn’t seem to have noticed them yet.

Three guards made there way through the alley, and Tyler took a fighting stance. From his position, Mark could see other guards that would easily spot them if they started a fight, but from Tyler’s spot, he couldn’t. If he fought, he’d get caught.

Mark ran along the wall, reaching them before the guards did. He couldn’t speak as he placed a hand over each of their mouths, pressing them against the wall as he urged the shadows to go over all of them. Tyler’s eyes widened, and he caught sign of Mark and stilled. Ethan, on the other hand, thrashed immediately, and Mark let go of Tyler to get Ethan to look at him.

They all stilled as the guards passed, and Ethan was in control of himself by the time they reached the end of the alleyway. Mark kept the shadow up, even after the whole group of guards had disappeared from sight.

“What are you doing here?” Tyler hissed, eyes narrowing and face scrunching up. 

“What are you doing here?” Mark retorted back, anger building. They shouldn’t be here. “Zero sent you on a scout mission in the second quadrant? What was he thinking?!”

“He didn’t.” Ethan said this time. “We were in the third quadrant, but our spot was found out. We split up with Bob and Wade, and they chased us here!” He paused, still breathing deeply from Mark’s sudden scare. Mark didn’t blame him, they were very close to being caught, and neither of them were wearing a tie to trick the devices. “What  _ are _ you doing here? I doubt Zero told you where we were.”

Mark snorted. “Like I need help finding you dumbasses.” He took a moment, before narrowing his eyes. “Wait, you  _ knew  _ I wouldn’t be going with you before the mission, and you were  _ okay _ with it?”

“We weren’t okay with it.” Tyler interrupted. “But as long as we knew you were back at base, we knew you were safe. Mark, you have to stop acting like everything will stay the same as it’s always been.” His eyes softened, and a frown fluttered on his lips. “Whether you want to be or not, you are now a leader for all egos, an icon for the rebellion, and a dragon’s hoard for any noble or aristocrat.”

Mark was still angry, even if Zero hadn’t sent them on a scouting mission in fucking second quadrant. It might’ve been his egos that were angry now, but he didn't care. “Love the poetry, Tyler. Now can you guys get back to the tunnel from here? I actually have something else I was doing.”

It was rude, and he might regret it later, but at the moment he just wanted his friends out of the way and safe. They seemed to have different opinions, though. “You think we’ll just leave you alone?” Ethan asked. “I want to see what you’re doing.”

“Or we’ll drag your ass back to the tunnels with us.” Tyler nodded. “It’s all or none of us.”

“It’s none of your business.” Mark snarked, trying to rile them up, to get them to leave. Honestly, if he could talk to any of them about it, they would be the first people he went to. They have egos, and they have partnered egos at that. They’d understand. “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“To bad, we’re not leaving.” Tyler said, ignoring the glare he got. “We’re friends, and I’d rather go down with the ship then abandoned you.”

Ethan nodded, before looking at Tyler curiously. “He’s right, you are poetic today.” Then he turned back to Mark. “Since you can’t get rid of us, want to tell us what you’re doing?”

Mark could kick them out of his shadow and disappear, he could leave them. But then they’d have to get back without being seen. They could probably do it, but it looks like the guards were already onto them, they’d be looking for those two in particular.

They might be looking for them because they’re associated with Mark, because the multi ego’d man had appeared twice around Bob and Wade, and once around these two. Bob and Wade have also been seen with Tyler and Ethan, which makes the entire group one big clusterfuck of suspects. He hated the idea that just being associated with them put a bounty on their heads, Tyler and Ethan in particular. Bob and Wade have magic, so no matter what they do, they’ll still have that and the nobility that comes with it to fall back on. Tyler and Ethan have egos, and if they’re caught because of their relationship with him, they’ll get collared and sold.

But they’d get collared and sold together. Nobles know what happens when you separate ego partners, they’re not dumb enough to do that. If two ego partners meet, and they’re owned by different people, either a trade has to be done, or the lower noble has to give the higher noble their ego and the host along with it. 

They’ve experienced the effect that a partner has on their egos, they know. So Mark inhaled, before saying. “I think one of my egos has a partner. I’m looking for them.”

Both of them froze, turning to look at each other before looking back at Mark. Ethan nodded slightly, face holding more determination then he’d ever seen from him. Thinking on it, Blank was probably adding onto it as well. Tyler, on the other hand, looked sceptical.

“You think you have a partner for your ego, but you don’t know.” He started. “But somehow, you’re in the noble quarter looking for them, and it doesn’t look like you’re looking blindly. You’ve already met the man who might have your ego’s partner, haven’t you?”

He sometimes hated how smart people with egos are. They’re smart on their own, but having an ego in your head constantly observing things and having more to say on the matter made them even smarter. Mark has four different voices in his head, and it makes it hard to argue against him since it's like arguing against 5 different intelligent people. It’s how he’s won his arguments his entire life. He guessed it was karma, having it used back on him.

Mark blinked. “Yes, why does it matter?” He could’ve lied, but he had lied about his egos for so long, and they were his best friends. He didn’t want to lie anymore to them.

“But you said only one of your egos has a partner.” Tyler continued. “So the strain of being near them wouldn’t affect you as much, since the other three are fine. You wouldn’t need to find them immediately because the strain wouldn’t push you towards them, you're going for another reason as well. You also wouldn’t be sneaking out if you told Zero about this, so he doesn’t know you’ve found a partner. You didn’t tell him that you, someone with multiple egos, has a partner. What’s so incriminating about this person that you’d hide it from him?”

Wow. Mark was not expecting Tyler to go all analytical on him out of nowhere. “This is not the place to talk about this.” Mark said, but rethought his words at Tyler’s look. “Okay, if you’re so insistent in knowing immediately, I’ll give you the short version. The man who might have one of my ego’s partners is a criminal, and may also have multiple egos too. That’s why I’m trying to find him.”

 

**——X——**

 

The two were silent for a full minute, before Tyler sighed and looked down. “Why am I not surprised?” He looked at Ethan for a response.

Ethan took a moment, before grinning at Tyler. “I told you, if anyone in the rebellion would do something that completely flipped the table, it’d be Mark.” His grin turned smug. “I never did cash in on that bet.”

“What?” Mark sputtered. “You guys made a bet on that?” He paused. “Why wasn’t I in on it?”

“It was between Marzia, Ethan, and I.” Tyler said, a smile starting to poke the edge of his lips. “We had always thought there were a few people in base hiding an ego. I had bet on Two, Ethan thought it was you, and Marzia thought it was Zero.” He paused. “You three all have strong auras.”

Zero? Marzia thought Zero had an ego? Neither Tyler or Ethan found anything weird with her thoughts, so Mark filed the thought for later and continued on. He didn’t even register whatever  _ aura _ thing Tyler mentioned. “Well, thanks, guys, for betting on friends. I’d love to chat some more, but it’s starting to get light, and my shadows will get weaker.”

Tyler looked up, spotting the rising sun. He kneeled down, taking off his backpack and pulling out some high end noble clothes. He passed a pair to Mark, taking out a small ration and taking a bite as Ethan pulled out some clothes of his own. “Might as well blend into the crowd.” Tyler said between bites. “Our ties were ripped up when we ran from the guards, but they shouldn’t question us if we wear these clothes.”

“And fix up our hair.” Ethan pulled out a comb with a grin, before tucking it back in his backpack. “We need a bathroom though, for mirrors.”

Mark took a look at the building they were next to, a restaurant and bar of some sort. They’d have a good bathroom in there. “Let’s get changed first.”

Mark separated the shadows, so they’d all have a little privacy to change in. Noble clothes were made of soft silk, but they were thin and not too comfortable. Even though the clothes regular people had were rough and course, they were comfortable and flexible. It was hard to run in noble’s clothes without ripping something. Mark never had that problem with regular clothes.

He finished changing first, and he took out a film to cover his dirty backpack. He always kept it with him, since looking like royalty didn’t work when carrying something so worn down. Nobles with backpacks weren’t abnormal, but they carried white, freshly cleaned, new backpacks, not brown dirty worn ones. The film was literally just a white bag sewed into the shape of a backpack, with zippers and everything. He shoved his backpack into the white bag, zipped it up, and it looked brand new.

Tyler and Ethan came out of his shadows, looking very much like nobility, besides the messed up hair and dirty faces. They could clean up in the bathroom, once they found one. Their backpacks also were concealed with a film much like his own. He silently thanked Azalia for making them.

The sun was barely up, but there were enough people milling around for them not to seem out of place. Mark peeked out of the alleyway, looking to make sure no one was staring in their general direction, before walking out into the main roads. The door to the restaurant he saw was a few yards away, so he subtly beckoned Tyler and Ethan to follow him.

They made it there without any problems. He was surprised to find the place at least half full, especially on the time of day it was. Still, it wasn’t a black suit only place, and they blended right in with the clothes they were wearing.

Since Mark had the least wanted posters with an actual face on it, he went to ask where the bathrooms were. “You buying food too?” The bartender asked, and Mark had some money on him, so he nodded. The man looked him over, before swinging his head to a door in the corner. “Through there. Don’t be to long, though, the next hour’s coming up in ten.”

Mark was confused on what that meant, but he thanked the man anyway, making his way to the back. No one paid them any attention as they opened the door to the back rooms. Like the scarce restaurants found in the regular quarter, there was a door to the kitchen, a door to the men’s room, and a door towards the woman’s. Unlike the regular quarter’s restaurants, there was another door, with big words in black ink.  **OWNERS AND STAFF ONLY** .

Mark gestured to the sign with a grim look. Owners obviously meant ego owners, but why would they be allowed back there? “You sure you guys don’t want to go back? I can do this on my own.”

Tyler ignored him, an obvious ‘we aren’t leaving’, before going to the boy’s bathroom and opening the door. “It’s a one toilet bathroom.”

“Well, do either of you need to piss?” Mark asked, and got a shake of their heads. “Good then. We can lock the door behind us.”

The room was big, with a large mirror and sink that took up one entire wall. A toilet stood in the farthest corner, and it laid untouched as the three walked in, locking it behind them. Ethan removed his white filmed backpack from his back, zipping open the film before zipping open the actual backpack underneath. He pulled out two combs, tossing one to Mark and keeping the other. Afterwards, he took out a little container of soap, holding it out to Tyler before going to the sink, combing back his hair.

Mark wasn’t surprised that they had all of this stuff, it was a necessity when it came to blending in. Mark had some of the stuff in his own backpack, but they have to give the clothes and materials back to be washed every time they get back from a mission. Mark would’ve needed to go to the prep room to grab that stuff, and that would’ve been too risky. He’s just happy that his friends are paranoid enough to always bring a spare.

It took a few minutes to become completely presentable. Mark was already clean, since he hadn’t just come from a mission, so all he did was comb his hair into a more neat manner. He had some body spray that he’s seen most nobles wear, so he doused himself in it, before passing it over to the other two.

Tyler and Ethan never got the chance to clean themselves up from whatever happened while they were scouting, and they had been gone for at least a day. Mark hadn’t looked for them at all the day before yesterday, so they could've been gone for even longer. Even with that, they were quick, washing every seeable piece of skin they had in less than five minutes. Tyler couldn’t really do anything with his hair, so he grabbed a hat from his backpack and put it on. Ethan’s hair was dirty, so he washed it out and combed it neatly while it was still wet, drying it slightly with the paper towels in the restroom. After a quick spray of whatever noble body spray Mark had, they were done.

Mark unlocked and opened the door, making sure no one was around before calling the others out. They left, opening the doors to the main restaurant as calmly as possible, looking for a seat. The bartender glanced at them, but they hadn’t taken to long, so the bartender said nothing.

Mark spotted a table out of the bartender’s view, but still close to the back door. He didn’t know what the extra door held, but he was curious.

The three of them sat down, and a waitress was on them almost immediately. She wore a black and white uniform, and was clean, but her sunken cheekbones and sad eyes showed that she wasn’t a noble. Probably a regular, non magical servant, if Mark had to guess. “Hello, welcome to the Siren’s Song, are you new here?”

It was a question, but she already knew the answer. She’s probably worked here for most of her life, she knows regular customers like the back of her hand. So Mark just smiled, trying to be friendly as he said, “No, but this place was recommended by a friend. She’s only been here once, but she said something about the hour..?”

He had no clue what the bartender was talking about, but he made it sound important, and it went with his made up story.

The waitress’s (Mark saw that her name plate said ‘Kia’) eyes lit up, probably from his friendliness. Egos and servants weren’t treated nicely by most nobles, so she was probably relieved that she was serving a nice table. The shine in her eyes didn’t last long, though, as her brain filtered in Mark’s question about the hour. They dulled significantly. “Ah yes, the hour song. You see our stage?” She gestured towards a stage with a microphone on it. “It’s our main attraction here. Our stage is open for almost anyone to sing on after 9pm and before 5am. It’s open all day on Sundays as well.”

Ethan tilted his head. “What about from 5 to 9? What’s going on then?”

“Scheduled singers.” Kia said, and something hidden in her tone told him she didn’t like the scheduled singers. “From 5 to 9, every hour on the hour, we have a certain singer sing a single song. His voice is enchanting, and the customers refer to him as the Siren. It’s where the name Siren’s Song come from. We get people from all around, wanting to hear his music.” She turned around, glancing at the other tables she must be serving. “He’ll be starting in a few moments. Can I get you any drinks?”

They didn’t order alcohol, but juices. Mark’s only ever had a drink that’s not water while in the noble quarter, so he takes his chance anytime he can. And on the menu Kia gave them, he saw something called ‘Root Beer’ and he wanted to try it. And they had enough money, they always made sure they had enough money.

Kia had just brought back their drinks when the lights dimmed slightly. She pointed towards the stage with a face that hid anything she felt, before disappearing behind the bar. Mark turned his attention towards the stage as a man came from behind the curtains. The restaurant had become almost completely full, and a few more people packed in as the man took the microphone in hand.

When the man started singing, Mark started to fully understand what Kia meant by siren. The man’s voice was beautiful, to say the least, hitting octaves smoothly and transitioning between high and low notes like he was born being able to. The voice was smooth, soft, and lulling, and he felt almost dazed and docile while hearing it.

It was over much faster then he wanted it to be, but he broke out of the voice’s effects before most of the other people in the restaurant. The man finished, turning around and disappearing behind the curtains.

“Hey!” The bartender was yelling at the people who had entered, to only be leaving after the song was over. “If you don’t buy anything, you can’t come inside!”

The restaurant emptied again, now the people from before were the only ones left. The crowd had showed only for the man, Siren, to sing, before leaving. And Mark could see why, the man’s voice left everyone in a peaceful daze of some sort. The strange thing was, he had snapped out of it, but the others didn’t seem to be able to.

“That was beautiful.” Ethan said, completely lucid and not dazed at all, like Tyler. “I can see why this place’s main attraction is Siren.” He took a big gulp of his drink, savoring it.

Tyler was still staring at the curtains the man had disappeared into. His eyes were narrowed, and his jaw was set in a thin line. Mark tilted his head at the man. “What, Tyler?”

Tyler snapped his head to look at him, before looking back. He finally settled on looking at Mark, taking a sip of his own drink before speaking. “That man had a collar on.”

Mark furrowed his brows. The man was wearing noble clothes, and his neck was covered by it, but he didn’t see anything like that. “What? I didn’t see a collar.” But it made sense, why his voice did that to people. If that man had an ego, it would explain the effect he had on the crowd, and why they snapped out of it while the other customers hadn’t. “He’s an ego?”

Tyler nodded. “After he finished we caught eyes. He seemed to know my face. When he turned, I saw the collar peeking out on the back of his neck. No one would’ve noticed since they were still in a daze.”

“I’ve never seen an ego with voice powers before.” Ethan murmured, finishing his drink. “Looks like if he put his energy into it, he could probably get them to do whatever he wanted. Like a real siren. The song probably put some thoughts about how good this restaurant was into everyone’s heads.”

“I want to meet him.” Mark said suddenly, and he didn’t know why he had the sudden urge to meet whoever the Siren was. “If he plays every hour, then he has to stay in the restaurant until the next hour comes up. We got a whole hour to find and talk to him.”

“What about finding that partner of yours?” Tyler asked, arching an eyebrow, but he looked interested.

“It’ll only take an hour.” Mark said. “And you want to meet him too, I see it in your eyes.”

Tyler grumbled something, but nodded. When they both looked at Ethan, it took him a moment to speak up. “If we go through that Owner and Staff only door, we’ll probably find him.”

Kia walked up to their table then, not at all dazed, and he wondered if the employees have to put on ear mufflers every hour. “What will you have to eat?”

They order a large appetizer to share, and nothing else. It was a restaurant, but it was also a bar, so it didn’t seem too weird to just lounge around. There were several radios playing either music, or talking about some kind of game going on somewhere else.

The appetizer didn’t take long to finish, and it came only five minutes later. Mark’s heard of the food on his plate before, but he’s never tasted anything like ‘cheese’ before, and neither, had it seemed, Tyler or Ethan had. They devoured it all. They waited for Kia to come back for the money, giving her slightly more than required. Kia gave a genuine smile, pocketing it and saying farewell, before turning around and leaving with the rest.

They waited until the bartender was quite busy with everyone else before going into the back again. The forbidden door was surprisingly unlocked, and the room it held had only one light, dangling from the ceiling with the light not quite touching the walls. Mark took the opportunity to conceal them all in shadows before moving forward. He liked taking precautions, and he knew Tyler and Ethan were happy with it too.

The room was filled with instruments and outfits someone would see in a play. It was hard to see in the dimly lit room, but Mark could only make out one person. The man who was singing before.

He had taken off the long overcoat he had been wearing, and the clothes underneath showed off who he truly was. They were clean, but they were clothes worn in the regular quarter and if anyone was seen wearing this here they would immediately be assumed a servant. But it was now easy to see the large, clunky collar squeezed around his neck. He sat on the floor, staring at nothing, deep in thought.

Mark was surprised when Tyler walked forward, out of his shadow’s reach. The man glanced at him, not to surprised, before looking back at whatever he was looking at. Tyler paused in his walk, before starting up again. “So you do have an ego.”

The man chuckled, turning his body so he sat facing them. Mark dropped his shadows, his mind going through the ways of making this man trust him. To show him they’re not a threat. The man’s eyes flickered towards them, before gesturing at his coat. “I’m required to wear it, since the Rebels keep rescuing egos from their owners.” He shrugged. “If I look to be normal, I stay under the radar.”

“How are you?” Ethan spoke up suddenly, making his way forward to stand next to Tyler. “I mean, is your owner… nice?” He cringed at himself. “I just want to know, cause this might be an impromptu evac or something, but if you're fine where you are-“

He was cut off by the man laughing. “Who can be a good person when they  _ own _ somebody else?” The man yanked his shirt sleeve back, revealing a pattern of bruises and cuts on his skin. He had no scars, but that was just because egos can heal almost anything on their host’s bodies. But that also meant that all of that was relatively new. He yanked the sleeve back down, hissing in pain before speaking up again. “I heard about what happened a few days ago, how the owner of an ego got themselves and their ego out. Special exception, I guess. But I saw who helped them and I remembered your face. Why are you here?”

Even though the man looked completely fine when covered, Mark could hear Dr. Iplier list out some things he could be hiding, judging by his posture and stance, how he favored holding one side of his body instead of the other. “We came to find someone.” Mark said after a moment. “But that can wait. We’ll get you out, then continue on.”

He expected to see some kind of joy or gratefulness on his face, but he just shook his head. “I can’t leave. My ego has a partner here.”

Well, that sends that down the drain. “A partner?” Ethan asked, slightly confused. “Does he cancel out your powers?” And it did seem weird for an ego with the powers of stopping voice control.

The man looked at Ethan for a bit, before shaking his head. “There’s more than one type of partner. Partners can cancel each other out, but they can also compliment each other, or mirror each other. Canceling each other out is the most common, but there are other kinds. Partners that don’t cancel each other out are just called symbiotic egos, but people usually say partners because it’s easier.”

**_(Oh, yes, I do._ ** _ Dr. Iplier had chuckled _ .  **_I’m the only one in your head that does. Wilford and Dark have-_ ** _ he trailed off, and Mark didn’t have any time to ask what he meant by that.) _

The memory popped into his head unannounced, and Mark had a feeling Google had done that, on purpose no less. But now the memory was in the forefront of his mind again and he frowned slightly.  _ What were you guys hiding from me? _

He didn’t get an answer.

“Where is your partner, then?” Mark asked. “They must be nearby.”

That’s when the man’s face fell, and Mark got another small look into how much the ego can affect the host when a partner is involved. “Because of the recent increase in ego rescues, not only do I have to cover the collar I wear, but I don’t get to see my partner as much. They know that you won’t rescue me without getting my partner out as well, so by having us far away from each other during the day, we’re less likely to be saved.”

The thought of doing that hit Mark in his core. He felt the anger from himself and his egos, all combined and trying to erupt. He didn’t think nobles would be stupid enough, evil enough, to separate partners. The pain the ego will feel… just the thought made his egos murderous.

But it was no where close to Ethan and Tyler’s anger.

For the first time ever, Mark was genuinely afraid of his friends.

And he understood why. They had always been good friends, and the fact that their egos were partners just strengthen that bond. At the beginning of meeting they were friendly, but they liked their own space. But now, after years of getting that excess energy from their egos, they don’t like being separated, and that’s how most egos and their hosts feel after a while. But they had been separated before, and he could imagine the complete rage coursing through them at the thought of always being separated.

“I’m one of the lucky ones, really.” The man said in afterthought, and he didn’t seem to notice how upset they had all become. “I go back to my owner’s home every night, and I get to see him once a week, on Sundays. Some egos go months without seeing their partner, and then only get to spend a day with them before being separated again.” He paused. “Maybe if that’s how it was with me, I’d go with you, because I’d be use to it, but the thought of going without him is… inconceivable to me. I’m sorry.”

There was nothing to be sorry for. Mark knew that an ego could have a partner, but not be bonded to it, it was his own situation. But after it’s been bonded, the egos hate separation. Ethan says he has to see Tyler at least once every day to keep Blank happy, and they bonded before Tyler and Ethan even knew their egos were partners. He’s lucky Dr. Iplier didn’t do that, but it was probably the other egos who stopped him. The Doctor goes crazy just thinking about his partner.

“Don’t be.” Mark said softly, finally moving forward to stand with Tyler and Ethan. “If you tell us where he is, we’ll get him out and then come back to you. You’re closer to the escape route anyway.” He extended a hand, in front of the sitting ego. “We never did exchange names. I’m Mark, that’s Tyler and Ethan.”

The man smiled. “Nate.” He said, taking Mark’s hand and helping himself up. “and Mare’s, my ego’s, partner will be hard to get to. The Grand Judgement always keeps a personal eye on him.” Nate brushed himself off. “You met me first, so it’s like our noble is holding him captive, but really, I’m here so that they can keep him under control.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT:  
> I specifically wrote the partner egos to be vague in if they actually love/like each other. The egos, as said, are infatuated with each other, so if you’d like to think that Blank and Apocalypse or any of the other ego partners love each other, then you can, I won’t get in the way. Now, for he hosts, I made it clear (especially in later chapters) that the egos effect the host, but the host doesn’t (doesn’t, not ‘never’) have to romantically like the other partners host. Again, I kept it pretty stable so that you can go either way, so that’s up to you. I wanna get this out of the way quickly so that you all know. Comment any questions!


	4. Chapter 4: Strangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone has a few screws lose.

“Are you sure about this?” Tyler asked. “You came out here to find your own partner, not to help someone else’s.”

Mark nodded. They were currently back in another alleyway, hidden in shadows so they could talk privately. Tyler and Ethan were going to split up, so Mark could do what he needed to and not worry about the ego they were now planning to rescue. “You’re the one who said all or nothing.” Mark reminded him. “Besides, I can find him later, this is more important. You heard what Nate said about his guy and his ego.”

Nate had explained what kind of partner Mare and the other guy’s ego, Mad, were. They complimented each other, since Mare could control anything living with his voice, and Mad could control anything nonliving with telekinesis. He also explained that Mad was uncharacteristically smart, enough for it to be both helpful and a problem. When they have the ego under control, they can make him invent almost anything needed, if the materials are good. When they don’t have him under control, he’ll cause the entire noble quarter’s electricity to go down. He’s hacked into databases of kingdoms hundreds of miles away, and he’s caused the deaths of half of the old Grand Judgement jury.

_ ”If he wasn’t so skilled, so valuable.” _ Nate had said. “ _ He would’ve been killed by now.” _

He also told them about the kingdom’s military, mostly of regular people, and some magical people. There aren’t many egos, but when they’re at war, the Grand Judgment will take egos who have complimenting partners and send them out on the battlefield. They were, at the moment, their best pair, since Nate could control the opposing soldiers and Mad (and whoever his host was) could turn their weapons back on them. It was just another reason why they hadn’t killed Mad yet, no matter how much trouble he cause, and another reason why they were being careful with keeping them out of the rebellion’s eye. And it explained why they were allowed to see each other, more so than other partners, since Mad didn’t seem like the type you want to mess with. Mare didn’t seem like either, for that fact.

Nate spoke of Mad’s host with a light kind of fondness, but Mark really wondered how he was. If his ego was so… crazy, how was he?

“That’s why we were going to split up.” Tyler said slowly, as if Mark hadn't gotten the point. “Because we can’t let the Grand Judgement be controlling these egos like this anymore. But you also have a partner to find for your ego, don’t put someone else before you.”

“They’re not bonded.” Mark waved that away. “But Mad and Mare are. What happens when the Grand Judgement orders Mad to track me down? To find out where our base is? He might not want to do it, but I’ve seen what happens when you threaten someone’s partner.” He watched the dark looks cross over their faces. “If he can’t fight back, he’ll do what he needs to do to keep Mare safe. And we saw how Nate’s being treated. As a rebel, I need to put my cause before myself. Now let’s go get Romeo, and bring him back to Juliet.”

He grinned at the other two, but only got a groan and a ‘That was awful’ from them.

****

The building Mad was supposedly in wasn’t like the others. Houses nowadays were built out of wood, recreational buildings out of brick and nicer houses out of stone. This building was made of actual ground. It was obvious to see that it was made by people with earth magic, there was no other way to make it.

Luckily and unluckily, it was far away from any other building, the closest being a large house behind it. They didn’t have to worry about sneaking to much, but they couldn’t use the rooftops of other buildings to climb in through the windows.

It was guarded as well, very much guarded. They watched a horse and carriage drive through, and not only was the entire carriage searched, but every single person there had to be patted down and checked with the device Mark oh so hated. Luckily, with the power he had, it was very easy to get through.

The place didn’t have much inside surveillance, besides the occasional guard. It was all lit up, so his shadow sneaking was null, but he still had three other powers at his disposal.

They ran into a total of six guards before they found Mad, and both Mark and Tyler took care of four of them. Something scary about Tyler’s abilities was the fact that he could render someone comatose if he went to far. Of course, Ethan could fix it, but when it was against these people, he let Tyler go as far as he wanted, and just hopped over them like they were a tree branch in the way. Mark only used Wilford’s bullets once, because they were fatal and he didn’t like to kill. He was lucky that Tyler took out the other three, but the one Mark ran into had died.

The last two Ethan took care of.

They had been moving pretty quietly through the maze of hallways when the two guards almost just appeared before them, yelling out “Hey!” and charging. Ethan looked over at them, before furrowing his brows and waving a hand towards them.

The two men stopped. Suddenly, in a move Mark  _ never would’ve predicted, _ the men completely ignored them as they looked at each other. And started kissing. Rather harshly.

Tyler seemed to not care, and moved passed the two (who were now against a wall) and continued. Ethan started to too when Mark spoke up. “Ethan, what the fuck was that?”

Ethan looked over, before shrugging. “Lust is useful sometimes.” He explained. “And I saw their emotions- they’ve been pining for each other for  _ years now. _ ”

Mark had no response to that. They continued.

They made it to an electrically locked door, which Mark easily got through, before stopping. The room they had made it to had several different doors, each of them holding some type of mutated animal or strange device. Mark wrinkled his nose at them, checking the single door that didn’t have a name card explaining what was in the room it was over.

“Think I found him.” Mark called out, looking into the room.

Inside the room was a man with a thick collar on, talking pleasantly with several other scientists as they leaned over something. Almost all of the scientists seemed wary or terrified of him, but he paid it no mind, saying something he couldn’t hear before laughing.

“There!” He heard a shout behind him, and he turned to look outside of the doorway they had entered through. Twenty or so men crowded the hallway they were just in, and one was pointing at the open door, pointing at him.

Going off instincts, he waved his hand, and the door closed and locked itself again. Google start rambling off numbers of the durability of the door and how much time they would have before it opened, and Mark listened in while speaking aloud. “Shit!”

“Not good.” Ethan followed up, taking a run around the room. “None of these doors lead out- there’s no windows either.” He looked at them, eyes wide in panic. “We’re trapped.”

“How many of them are there?” Tyler asked, face going blank but fear in his eyes. “We can take them all out. If we get to Mad, he can help.”

Mark turned around, focusing his powers on the door before groaning. “It’s a normal lock.” He looked again. “Several normal locks.” Maybe he could do a mass sickness. They’d be sick, but they could still fight, and he wasn’t strong enough for it to knock them out. He could start shooting, but they’d surround him before he got them all.

“They got deployable collars!” Ethan had moved to the door’s window, and any hope Mark had was squashed.

“Damnit!” He barked. “Damnit damnit damnit! It had seemed to easy! It was to easy, and I got sloppy-“ Jack’s words came back to him. But not only had he gotten himself caught, but he got his friends caught too. “Fuck!” He looked at his friends. They’d be caught, and they’d get the scars once they were, a permanent brand of how he had fucked up.

Tyler looked resigned as well, staring blankly at him. Ethan was the only one still bouncing around, and the younger boy turned towards Mark, pausing when he saw Mark’s hand rubbing his neck. His own hand went to his neck, and a new horror filled his face. But it wasn’t directed towards himself, it was directed towards Mark and Tyler. “Do you guys know…” Ethan started slowly, licking his lips. “There’s a way to have a collar on… and not scar?”

Scarring was the least of their worries, honestly, but hearing that he and his friends could get through this without a permanent reminder made him lift his head. His mind got back on track, back onto the mindset he needed. “What? How?”

Ethan looked outside again, before both of his hands circled his neck. “Before I met you guys, and became a part of the rebellion… I had been caught and collared for over a year.” He removed his hands, and Mark looked at his neck, which, as always, was clear of any scars. “The collar shocks you if you use your powers when you're not allowed… it digs into your skin to do it. If you never use your powers, you never get shocked. You never scar.”

The hope that filled Mark’s chest shouldn’t of been there. They were going to be caught, they were going to be caught because of him, but if he could get them through it then it would be okay. He had memorized Jack’s address, if he could get them there then it would be okay and he could still fix this. He could look at his friends and not immediately see how he messed up, and his friends could look in the mirror and not remember what he had put them through.

“I know that’s hard.” Ethan continued quickly. “I had to tell Blank to stop me from trying at all. It might be impossible for you, Mark, but I promise it works, there’ll be no scar.”

Because with a scar they couldn’t go in missions anymore. With a scar they’d have to stay away from the noble’s quarter, they have to stay by base. With a scar, they might be moved to a safe house outside of the kingdom. You can’t do anything once you scar. There’s a reason why it’s like a brand.

It was then that Google informed him that the door was breaking, and it was then that the door busted open. There were to many, Mark knew he wouldn’t win, but he still gathered up the worst illness he could get, before spreading it out as thinly as possible to reach as many people as possible. It didn’t do anything he could see, but Dr. Iplier told him they’d be feeling it soon.

That was all Mark could do, though, as someone aimed a strange contraption at him and shot. He didn’t have time to watch it’s pathway, and he felt more than saw something close around his neck, squeezing his skin so harshly that it burned. Mark’s hands immediately went up to his neck, and he could see the horror on his friends’ faces as the force of the collar hitting him cause him to fall.

The collar was much to tight, he could barely breath and swallowing didn’t feel like an option. He wanted it off, and maybe Wilford’s energy bullets could get it off, or Google’s technology powers, he just wanted it  _ off _ .

**_Calm down._ ** It was Dark, but it was distant, like he was moving away from him, and it scared Mark more. But… but why couldn’t he use his powers?  **_Calm down, Mark. If you try and use our powers you will get shocked and scarred. We won’t let you use them until you get this collar off._ **

Why was his voice getting farther and farther away? Where were the other three egos? He expected them all to be angry and shouting, but they were quiet and Mark actually couldn’t feel them like he normally could.  _ Dark? _

**_I’m still here._ ** His voice was still oh so far away and oh so small, but he was there, and that relief took his thoughts away from his useless powers.  **_I’m not leaving._ ** Dark confirmed calmly, and for some reason Mark wanted to cry.  **_The collar is pushing us all away, so they’re using their own energy in keeping me here with you._ **

Time was moving slowly outside of his mind, he was still falling, he realized. The thought, strangely, brought some peace. This could’ve been Dark’s doing, his egos probably knew he would freak out and try and use their powers, even if he didn’t want to. They wanted him to be ready to face whatever happened next.

But something still confused him.  _ You wouldn’t be able to talk to me without the other egos? But Ethan said he could still talk to Blank. _

**_Ethan could because he used his own energy to bring Blank out from where the collar is pushing us._ ** Dark said.  **_It’s exhausting, and you have four of us, so it would also be impossible. Even with this collar on, since the others are putting their energy into me, I can still talk to you without you overexerting yourse-_ **

Mark hit the floor, and the collar dug into the back of his neck. He groaned, making to move up when a kick to his unprotected stomach stopped that movement before it even started. He curled up, coughing and clutching his stomach in pain. Two arms took each of his wrists, hauling him up so that he sat on his calves. 

He blinked away the blurriness his eyes started to gain, taking everything in. Men were manually putting collars on his friends, instead of shooting them, which Mark briefly thought was unfair but then was okay with. There was a chance that the force of it could’ve cause something that could scar, and he was happy he would have to deal with it, and not the others.

The collar was like a dog cone, in a way. He couldn’t push his chin down, so he couldn’t look down, and he couldn’t look up because the back of his head hit the collar before he made it all the way there. It limited his movements like a dog cone would.

He felt something brush his knee, and he maneuvered his head so that he could see what it was. The tie he was wearing was cut off from the force of the sharp collar clamping around his throat.

The tie that gave him protection against the devices.

Mark’s head went into overdrive again.

**_Calm down, Mark._ ** Dark spoke again, and outside of his head, it sounded almost normal.  **_It’s okay, we’ll find a way through this. Panicking won’t do shit, though._ **

The fact that it was  _ Dark _ trying to comfort him shocked him out of his would be panic attack, and his last sentence brought a sliver of amusement through the thoughts running through his head. He could get through this. He had to get through this. If not for himself, then for Tyler and Ethan.

Someone brought out the wrenched device, sticking it in the junction between Ethan’s collar and neck. It made a noise, and the man nodded, moving to Tyler and doing the same. He brought it over to Mark, shoving it in the same place for the others. The machine made four noises, and the man back up. “It’s him, boss.”

“Such luck.” A man said, walking into the room. The other men stepped out of his path as he looked at the three of them. “Not only such a valued trophy, but two others as well?” He moved up to Mark, leaning forward. “Now, what were you doing here to begin with?”

The man was tall and stocky, like a bodybuilder. His hair was a dark brown, as were his eyes, and his clothes were just as fancy as his own. A high noble, or a low aristocrat. He was hoping a high noble. The man was smiling like Christmas came early, and Mark had the urge to give him an incurable disease. But even with his intimidating form, Mark could see bags starting to form under his eyes, the brown of his eyes turning red. The sickness was slowly taking hold. The fact that is was working got a smile from him.

“Heard you had some cool experiments in here.” Mark snarked slightly, trying to hide their real intentions. “Planned to take that rabbit-frog home as a pet, but I guess that won't be happening.” He made himself look slightly disappointed, but he was still smiling up at the man, as if he had never lost the fight.

The man’s eyes narrowed, but he seemed to believe it. His gloved hand grabbed Mark’s jaw, pulling it forward. The man holding his arms didn’t move, and his shoulders ached in protest, making him grunt. “That attitude will have to go.” He said, scanning Mark’s face as if looking for something he couldn’t find.

**_Just wait till he finds out how stubborn you are_ ** **.** Dark commented.  **_He’ll run away screaming._ **

The dark bit of humor made him smile slightly, and the man took that as him mocking him. He let go of his grip quite harshly, turning back around and glaring at the other two. “What have they?”

He seemed to know who they were, and the men around the two shifted. Someone else came forward, holding a slightly different device up. He pushed it into the side of Tyler’s head, making him crane his neck from the pressure. He waited a moment before taking device away and doing the same to Ethan. In the silence it took for him to do so, it was only broken when he said. “Partners, sir. Cancellation to be precise.”

When did they get the technology to find that out? He had never heard of them being able to know anything more then if you had magic, powers, or not. It looked to be that they needed both egos for it to work, though, so Mark shouldn’t have to worry about being found out.

The man hummed, clearly pleased, before moving out of the room. “Take them to my abode, and keep it quiet for now.” He looked behind him. “I want to break the man with multiple egos before showing him off to the world as my servant.”

Mark forced the fear blooming through him down, instead mumbling under his breath. “Tacky.”

It was to low for the normal people to hear it, but Ethan and Tyler heard it just fine. Tyler snorted, whereas Ethan let out one big chuckle, before stopping himself. They all looked at him, and he just looked down at the ground. Mark let the amusement that gave him filter through for a moment, before focusing on what was going to happen. He might’ve made a joke about it, but he didn’t doubt the man would try and do just that.

Everyone left the room, him being the last ego to. The guard took a moment to close the door behind him, and Mark’s breath caught when he looked back at Mad’s door.

Mad’s face was at the window, and he was looking straight at Mark with a strange smile, half smirking and half.. something else. Behind him, though, Mark could clearly see the bodies of the scientists in there with him on the ground. Mad spoke, and even though he couldn’t hear it, Mad made it easy to lip read.

_ See you soon. _

****

**——X——**

****

The man’s abode happened to be the house behind the building they were in. Mark had seen that it was big, but it was larger then he really thought it was, which was only slightly intimidating.

“Welcome back Sir Denzil.” Someone said, and where had he heard of that name before? “I finished the paperwork you left-“

The man who was speaking finally rounded the corner, before meeting Mark’s eyes and freezing in place. Mark stilled as well, before mentally groaning.  _ That’s  _ where he’s heard the name from.

Wait a second. This was good. This was really good. Hope quickly took hold as a whole new plan formed in his head. This was perfect.

Thomas was still frozen in shock, mouth agape, but he quickly pulled himself back together. “Sorry sir.” He muttered, looking away from Mark. “I did not know that you had decided to... purchase new egos.”

Tyler glanced at Mark, eyes knowing. He had known Mark and Thomas before any of them had discovered their powers. Denzil gave off a hardy laugh, walking forward and clapping his brother on the back. Thomas jolted slightly, still in some state of shock, before smiling back at his boss. “Oh Thomas, have you been keeping up with the news? The multi ego man?” He gestured to Mark, as if showing off a prize he’d won to someone he wants to be proud of him. Mark wasn’t sure what startled him more, the fact that Thomas was able to compose himself so quickly, or that Denzil seemed to really like his brother, even if Thomas did work for him.

Thomas’ face contorted into fake surprise, but it was surprisingly good. “Really, this man?” He looked Mark over, worry and annoyance clear in his eyes. “Doesn’t look like much to me.”

Mark’s surprise turned into brotherly annoyance instantly. Denzil, on the other hand, laughed again. “And guess where he was? The research lab, looking to take home one of the experiments. Walked right into my arms!”

Thomas took a moment to stare at Denzil, before turning to stare at Mark’s friends, before Mark himself. “That was very idiotic of him.” He murmured, and Mark glared. “I guess just because he’s gotten great power, doesn’t mean he has a great mind. He seems rather stupid.”

Mark wanted to yell. He wanted to yell at his brother and tell him off. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to laugh at his luck, his saving grace, and he wanted to cry. He wanted to cry and laugh and yell and how could he be so lucky?

**_Mark, your mask is breaking._ ** Dark warned him, and Mark controlled his face. If he gave anything away, made Denzil suspicious of Thomas in anyway, then it would all be for naught. If anyone found out about Thomas, about his mom, he’d never forgive himself. They’d be torn from their lives, the lives they’ve worked so hard on building up.

“Ah well, yes.” Denzil agreed. “Though the ones with less intellect are always easier to control. Come, my servants will be taken downstairs, while we have a toast in our victory.” Denzil gestured somewhere Mark couldn’t see, before calling back. “And men, teach the one with the mouth how to keep it shut.”

Thomas’s lips trembled as they went for a smile. He glared one last time at Mark, as if saying ‘I’ll be back, don’t be stupid.’ before disappearing around the corner with Denzil.

****

Mark was shoved into a cell opposite of Ethan and Tyler, who got to share a cell because they’re fucking partners and Mark is happy about it but was also really fucking jealous.

He wasn’t just jealous, he was happy and sad and scared and just a rainbow of emotions. Most of his egos were completely gone from his mind, and Dark’s mantra of  **_I’m here_ ** was the only thing that was stopping him from taking the collar in his hands and trying to rip it off himself.

But there was a silver lining. Besides when it first went on, Mark hasn’t felt any pain or blood. He was positive that he didn’t have a single cut anywhere on his neck. Ethan was right, it was only the use of powers that screws you over.

He expected the guards to just throw him in and leave, but he guessed Denzil wanted him already bruised when he got here, if that’s what he meant by ‘teaching’. When they pushed him in, he had tripped, and caught himself on all fours. He was going to pick himself back up when a foot slammed into his head, most definitely concussing him. It took a few moments for his vision to come back, and by that time, they had taken a bat (who just  _ has a bloody baseball bat _ laying around the basement?) and swung it into his ribs.

Mark’s mouth opened to scream, but the collar was so fucking  _ tight _ , he genuinely couldn’t. It wasn’t this tight before, there must’ve been a way to change the settings.

So Mark gritted his teeth, trying not to bite his tongue off as they swung the bat a second time, and then a third. He started to wonder if they would stop after one of his broken off rib pieces punctured a lung or something important, but they stopped shortly after that thought.

“That’s probably enough for now.” One of them said, stepping harshly on one of his wrists. He gasped, trying to squirm away, but the man relieved the pressure before his wrist broke. “Boss’ll get mad if we hurt him to much.”

The collar around his neck seemed to loosen some, and Mark took in a deep breath. The men moved away from his door, and he could deal with this. If this was how it would be, he could deal, he would have to, he could do it. He thought they were just going to leave, but they started moving towards Tyler’s and Ethan’s room and  _ oh no he wasn’t having that. _

So, against his spinning head and aching ribs (he never so truly wanted Dr. Iplier to tell him how hurt he was, but at the moment just hearing his voice would help) he stood up, gripping on the bars. “It sad how you guys have to use bats to deal any real damage.” He spoke, and the others look at him and Tyler and Ethan knew what he was doing and they wanted him to stop but he couldn’t because he put them into this mess and he couldn’t let them get hurt-

**_Breath Mark._** Dark said, sounding slightly ticked off but mostly proud of what he was about it do. None of his egos liked his friends getting hurt, they were the definition of overprotective. **_Think instead of feel._**

He blinked, head clearing slightly. He was already healing, and his soaring headache didn’t feel as bad as before. Blinking some more, he finished his thoughts. “Are you guys really so weak that you need to use tools? No wonder you don’t have any magic, no wonder you work for him instead of others working for you.”

The guards’ faces turned into outrage, and Mark had never been so proud of himself.

****

“He’s an idiot! The biggest fuckin idiot-“

Mark swam painfully in and out of consciousness. He opened his aching eyes slightly, swallowing to wet his dry throat. How long he had been out for, he couldn’t really tell.

**_Around ten hours._ ** Google informed him.  **_It is approximately one o’clock in the morning._ **

He could always rely on Google when it came to the time.

_ Wait… _

“Google!” Mark shot up from where he laid, immediately regretting it as his body assaulted him with waves of pain. His memory of what had happened was coming back, and as it filled in the holes, he remembered that they specifically didn’t touch his legs, and that standing up would be okay.

He went to stand up, and then remembered that he was concussed. Okay, never mind on that idea…

“He’s awake.” He felt more then saw someone come kneel besides him. “Come on Mark, open your eyes. I don’t know whether I should berate you or hug you, and I don’t have time for both.”

Thomas’ voice startled Mark’s eyes opened, and he blinked as his vision came into focus. “Hey Tom.”

“You idiot.” Thomas hissed, and Mark could barely sit up before he was tackled into a hug. “Why were you fucking around in a  _ research lab? _ God, Mark, mom and I heard that you were found out, and we thought you would stay hidden-  _ what are you doing in the heart of nobility? _ ”

Thomas said he only had time for berating or a hug, but he managed to do both. Mark wrapped the arm that hurt less than his other around Thomas, his lamer arm brushing against his neck. The collar was gone.

**_Very much is, kid._ ** Wilford said, and Mark never thought he’d miss the ego’s voice so much. It was gone for only one conscious hour and Mark almost already lost it. And that was  _ with _ Dark still there are talking him through it…

How did other hosts do it?

**_Many don’t._ ** Doctor Iplier said, and Dark finished off his thought.  **_There is a reason why most captive hosts doesn’t live past 30. They can’t take it, it eats away at you._ **

Slivers of anger shot through his body, bringing more pain to his injuries. He looked down at his body, waiting for Iplier to tell him the worst of the injuries. When he didn’t, Mark went to ask, but a bolt of pain tore through his head. Right. Head injury.

His egos’ voices were going in and out of clarity, but he could feel them and they were here and that’s all he needed at the moment. Blinking slowly, he looked around, spotting Tyler and Ethan by the door to his cell. Ethan was talking in a low, distorted voice, and his eyes seemed to flash to something darker as he worked on taking Tyler’s collar off, his own already gone.

It took Mark a very more seconds then he wished for when it finally clicked. Most egos have the ability to take control over their host for a little bit, usually only going to speak through their voices, but Blank had always been a particularly strange ego in that sense. But Tyler seemed to be handling the fact that Blank was almost completely controlling Ethan’s movements well on his own, so he paid it no mind.

“How’d you get pass all of the guards?” Mark asked slowly, working on getting up. He was thrilled to see Thomas, but he needed to leave. They needed to leave.

“Got Denzil wasted first.” Thomas said, reaching out to help steady Mark and help him up. “And it seems like you did the rest. All of the guards have been vomiting and bedridden for hours now.”

Point one for disease. 

“Thanks, Tom.” Mark stood, wobbling slightly before looking at himself again. He’d have a good amount of bruises, but besides the baseball bat, they didn’t use knives or sharp objects of any kind. He wouldn’t need to worry about bleeding out. Gently tracing his rib cage to not hurt his arms, he gave off a breath of relief (which hurt but oh well). They hadn't completely separated a rib or anything near that bad. His ribs might not be working completely, but they were fixable. Not to mention the fact that he felt some gauze underneath his shirt, wrapped around his chest, which would help keep them still. “You should go back up to Denzil, make sure you're not seen. If you wake up and pretend to be hung over, you shouldn’t be suspected of helping us.”

Thomas looked like he wanted to argue. He looked like he was going to argue. But thankfully he didn’t, just hugging his brother one more time before moving back to where he was before. “Stay safe.”

“I always try.” Mark called out, smiling. That went… so much better than he thought it would. Everything hurt like a bitch, but Tyler and Ethan looked fine and that was all that mattered now.

********  
  


**——X——**

****

“Mark, you can barely walk right now. You  _ cannot _ be really considering-“

“I am.” Mark cut through Tyler’s argument. “This is the best time to do it. I sent out a wide range virus while we were still in there, and it seems to be affecting everyone. It’s the middle of the night and they don’t know we’ve escaped yet. Once they do, they’ll shut everything down.”

Ethan looked at the large building they stood next to. They had just exited Denzil’s house, and it was the first time they saw the research lab from behind. “That window up there.” Ethan pointed, eyes flashing like they were before. Blank was still trying to take over. “I saw the view- it’s right outside of that room we were caught in before. We can climb this roof and jump over.”

“You mean we can. Mark’s going to break something else if he tries that.” Tyler said, crossing his arms.

Mark huffed, before smiling. His head was the thing healing the quickest, thankfully, and he could see clearly again. “Well it seems like the big strong Tyler will have to carry me, doesn’t it? Here, gimme your backpack.”

And that’s how they ended up crawling through a window several stories off the ground, even with Mark’s broken body.

This time, Mark didn’t waste any time, breaking the door open to Mad’s room with a pink bullet of energy. Mad was waiting patiently inside, sipping some kind of fizzy drink as he lounged across a desk chair. The scientists from before were all still there, nothing but corpses now.

Mark looked around the room, noting all of the strange equipment. There was what looked like a database screen filling up an entire wall, but there was a keypad thing underneath it, with a little thing looking kind of like a mouse without ears, a wire coming out of it and hooking onto the screen.

“Hello there!” Mad smiled, something that was slightly crazy. His eyes were much too bright to be normal, and Mark would think that Mad was actually in control at the moment, but he was wearing a collar so that made no sense.

But then whatever he thought was turned on it’s head when Mark broke the collar. His eyes went back to normal, and he blinked, standing up and looking around him, slightly confused. “Thank you..?” He spoke again, much more warily, before eyeing them strangely. “Strange question, but am I supposed to like or hate you?”

****

Mark’s never seen anything like it.

Getting out was just as easy as getting in, and they took a break in an empty servant house. Mark slid against the wall, trying to get in some rest. They’d need to leave at daybreak, before anyone noticed that Mad (or Mat, which was the host’s name) was gone, and before they moved Nate.

But he couldn't sleep, because Mat’s situation was so weird and he couldn’t believe it was even possible.

Apparently, whenever Mat is collared, instead of it pushing the ego away from the forefront of the host’s mind, it pushes  _ Mat himself _ away, giving Mad complete control over his body. And when the collar comes off, Mat is back. Mat called it a safety mechanism of some sort, since Mad dealt with being collared much better than he did, but it was so…  _ strange. _

But when Mat came back, he truly didn’t know how long he had been gone for. When asked for the date, he told them that it was Sunday, last Sunday, when it most definitely wasn’t, since it was Friday of the next week.

Even with the skips in time, Mat had heard of him from Mad. They had already asked him to track him down, which Mad had said, and which Mat quotes ‘I don’t need to find him, he’ll find me.’

Mark shifted, please to feel that it didn’t hurt as much to do so. His arms were still pretty much useless, but his head was mostly clear and his ribs didn’t feel like they’d break off at any point anymore, so that’s a win.

The sun rose much sooner than Mark would've liked, but they needed to go, so Mark brushed the dirt off of his clothes, taking his backpack (Thomas had found those, too, thankfully) and looking for anything that would make him look more presentable.

“We don’t have an extra pair of clothes for you.” Tyler said to Mat once they were all up. “But if you can hide those scars, we can pretend that you’re a servant.”

Mark could see Tyler was upset with himself for even saying it, but Mat didn’t seem to notice, nodding and fiddling with his collar. Mark could see what Nate had meant by Mad’s host being a good guy, he seemed to be.

Mark was still slightly to distorted to trust himself with anyone but Wilford’s powers, so using shadows was out of the option. They just stuck to staying on the streets, keeping their heads high to show that they were meant to be there.

They reached The Siren’s Song at what seems to be just after an on the hour song, since people were leaving the restaurant with dazed, sleepy expressions on their faces. Mat’s lips quirked up as he saw it, which made Mark happy to see.

“Wait out here.” He said to Mat and Ethan. They both nodded, and Mark took Tyler around the back, going through the Owners and Staff only door.

“You guys are back relatively quick.” Nate arched an eyebrow. “How could you have possibly- what happened?” He seemed to just have noticed how busted up Mark seemed to be.

“Denzil happened.” Mark didn’t expect Nate to know the name, but his eyes blew wide open when he heard it. “What?”

Nate calmed, looking down. “Sorry.” He muttered, and it looked as if he was use to doing this. Mark’s egos started to shimmer in anger. “It’s just- that’s my owner.”

Mark blinked, glancing at Tyler. That made sense, why hadn’t he thought of that? But Nate said that the Grand Judgement was watching Mad- did that mean Denzil was a part of it somehow?

“It’s fine.” Mark said, picking up the large overcoat that Nate always has to wear. Placing a hand on his collar, he shot a pink bullet straight through it, before handing him his jacket. “We got to go.”

“Coast’s clear.” Tyler said, looking outside of the room. Nate threw the coat back on, zipping it up to hide his clothes and bruises (which were fresher than before god damnit Mark was going to hurt someone). They stuck back out the back way, going back to where they left Ethan and Mat.

Nate’s eyes flashed when he caught sight of them. “Mat!” He grinned, tackling the other man in an embrace. Mat chuckled, returning it wholeheartedly before pulling away.

“Did it work?” He asked, and did what work? Whatever it was did seem to work, since Nate smiled even wider.

“Like a charm.” He pulled away the large coat’s collar, revealing a scarless patch of skin on his neck. “What about yours?”

Mat grimaced, as if he was hoping Nate wouldn’t think about it, rubbing his own scar filled neck. “Malfunctioned, they had to use another one.” He shrugged, not at all upset. “Oh well, all that matters is that yours worked.”

“Wait.” Tyler said, as confused as Mark. “Did you do something to your collars?”

Mat grinned, and that was all Mark needed to see. “Made it so using your powers without your owner’s permission would not shock you. It works every now and then- Mad’s happy, though. He was wondering if it would work.”

“Mad’s always happy.” Nate retorted, still smiling and happy and this was why Mark liked what he did.

“I mean really happy.” Mat said. “Like, happier than when we put the Grand Judgement into a month long coma.”

They. Did.  _ What? _

“No way!” Nate laughed, as if that was just a normal thing normal people did. “He was giggling about that for weeks afterwards.”

“I’m really sorry to break this up.” Ethan said, amazement clear in his voice. “And you’ll have to tell me that story later.” He added. “But we need to go.”

Tyler turned to Mark. “Do you think your criminal overlord will be okay with the extra people?”

Mark ignored the strange faces Mat and Nate made, shrugging. “Dunno, and I don’t really care. If he doesn’t, then we’ll all just leave.”

Tyler looked unsure. “This was the entire reason you were out here to begin with.”

“And now it’s the least important reason.” Mark rebutted. “The most important thing now is getting back with these two.” He gestured over to the two he was speaking of.

Mat raised a hand. “Hey, don't let us stop you guys from whatever you were doing. We’ll just follow behind.”

“Don’t have anything better to do.” Nate grumbled. “Hey, do you think that lady who owns an ice cream shop is still around?”

They spoke like they didn’t have a care in the world, where just a little bit ago they were both so meek and passive. Did their partnership give them that much power? Did they feel just that much more comfortable around each other? They did say they put the Grand Judgement, a group of powerful magic users, into a month long coma for fun.

Mark decided to take a little more precaution around the two. Nate and Mat seemed like great people, but Mad and Mare sounded crazy. He felt a little bit more comforted, knowing he had something to distract him while he lead the four of them to the address Jack gave him.

It didn’t last long. “Hey, remember when Mad switched one kingdom’s royal newborn with another kingdom’s? They didn’t notice for years!”

Okay, so maybe Mat and Nate were slowly gaining their egos’ traits. It seemed like most captive egos come out of it slightly less sane then when they started. Mark could barely handle a hour of it. Marzia’s entire attitude shifts when it’s spoken of, and she only had it on for five minutes. Jack seems to have different personalities, and Mat and Nate found stuff like this hilarious.

And Ethan…

Blank had always been strange to Mark. He took over Ethan’s body much more than he's ever seen on anyone else, but if Ethan’s been collared for over a year, then that might explain that.

Mark looked up at the sky, wondering why he lived in such a messed up world.


	5. Chapter 5: Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Partners are the best and worst to be around.

“Here’s the place.” Mark said. It was a large wooden house, towering over the other nearby houses, and not at all hidden. “I’d thought it blend in more, for being what it was.” He didn’t wait for a reply, walking up and knocking on the door.

It creaked open.

“Okay then.” Mark muttered, glancing behind him. Tyler and Ethan looked wary, and Mat and Nate had stopped talking, but they still held amused smiles on their faces. He turned back around, calming himself, before marching into the house.

Once the others had filtered in, the door closed behind them. It was dark, to dark to see anything. Mark raised his hand, planning to make a pink bullet to cast some light, when fire erupted from several different places around the room.

As the fire settled to a normal flame, Mark could see several different people in dark red cloaks and hoods holding the fire, surrounding them.

Mark cursed himself again. Of course it was a trap! He had just led his friends into another fucking-

“Call it off, boys.”

The people with fire magic released their flames, and the room plummeted into darkness for a few moments, before a light was turned on.

Mark blinked, adjusting to the harsh light before looking around. The room was small, and about seven or eight hooded people surrounded them, hands tucked underneath their robes. The person who spoke stood at the doorway to the rest of the house, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed and smirking.

Jack.

“Sorry about them.” Jack gestured at the robed people. “Very secretive, being flame cultists and all. Follow me.”

He disappeared through the door, and Mark would rather deal with him then the robed people. He followed after them, hearing Ethan and Tyler follow. He also heard Mat speak to the cultists, before following when they wouldn’t answer.

“You showed up at a very inopportune time.” Jack continued. “Everyone here is a little more paranoid than usual, which I understand.” He turned back around, locking eyes with Mark. A smirk tilted on his lips. “You see, one small mistake can ruin everything.”

He casts a single lookover on him, and was probably upset with what he could pick up. Dr. Iplier caused sickness, but he could still see what was wrong with people. Jack’s ego heals, so he had to know what was wrong with people.

But Mark didn’t think his jab at mistakes was focused on himself, but more at something Jack did. Curiosity filled him. “What did you do?”

“The same as you.” Jack grinned, seemingly unafraid of whatever was putting everyone else at edge. He shrugged. “I was planning to do it anyway, it just came a little early…”

Mark looked at his friends, confused. They just shrugged, as mystified as he was. Mark contemplated on asking, when Jack spoke again. “Anyone who wants to rest can go up there.” He gestured to a staircase leading up onto another floor. At the moment, rest sounded wonderful, but Jack fixed him with a stare that told him that wasn’t happening. “I would like to talk with Mark first. He needs some healing.”

“Really?” Ethan piped up. “Can one of your friends heal? Cause I stubbed my toe real bad.” He shrugged, a shit eating grin flashing on his face. “I’ll come with you and Mark, get some healin’ too.”

 _Your friends are just delightful!_  Wilford said fondly. **_Ah, I just wanna stab them so much, they’re great!_**

Ignoring that...

They didn’t trust Jack, and at the moment, Mark didn’t either. He had this entire… feeling around him that just _vibes_ danger. Jack’s postured gave off relaxed and friendly tones, but it felt forced, like he was doing it on purpose. It took only a moment before Tyler also muttered out a half assed excuse to join them.

Jack looked at them, not at all fooled. It was quiet for a moment, before he laughed. “Okay, let’s go then.”

 

****

Mat and Nate had disappeared up the stairs Jack had pointed out, so Jack led them another way, over to an empty office looking room. It looked formal, and not at all like what Mark would imagine Jack working in, with nothing fun looking around to fiddle with. He guessed he didn’t even use it, since there was a thin layer of dust on every surface.

Jack opened the window, letting fresh air and light into the room before turning back around. His focus was back on Mark when his eyes lit up in a mischievous fashion, like he had an idea that Mark surely wouldn’t like. “You know, we’ve never formally introduced ourselves.” He moved to stand in front of him, holding a hand out. “My name is Jack, even though I’m pretty sure you already know.”

It really says something when he’s almost too paranoid to shake a hand, but Tyler and Ethan seemed to be wary too. But maybe he had judged him too early. If their egos were partners, then he should just start from the beginning, learn who he _truly_ was and all that. It was only fair, and Jack seemed to be trying to turn a new leaf, even with all of the weird looks. So he steeled himself, smiled, and raised his own hand. “Mark.”

He took Jack’s hand, but let go quickly when it shocked him. He looked accusedly at the man, but Jack seemed just as surprised as him. _What was that?_ He asked his egos, trying to ignore the pain racking his body from the sudden movement.

 **_Oops._ ** Wilford said in a way that showed he wasn’t actually regretting what he did. **_My bad._ **

**_WIL!_ ** Dark thundered, and damn why was Dark so upset? **_WHY would you DO that?! This has been what we’ve been trying to avoid!_ **

**_But he’s right there!_ ** Wilford groaned. **_I was tired of waiting…_ **

**_You think I’m not as well?_ ** Dark rumbled, and Mark was very much confused. **_We specifically said we wouldn’t do this!_ **

**_It is impractical._ ** Google joined in, apparently on Dark’s side. **_This is not the time to have Mark dealing with any of us acting out of the ordinary._ **

**_Since Wilford did it._ ** Dr. Iplier started, timid but hopeful, like a child. **_Can I finally bond too?_ **

Bond? They’re talking about bonding? Wilford bonded… he has a partner? But Dr. Iplier said… no, he corrected himself as he spoke- oh fuck, Wilford and Dark have partners too, don’t they?

 **_We do._ ** Dark confirmed his thoughts, and oh no, Mark thought his life was going for the better but _nooooo_. **_And no, Doctor, do not. You will be harder to handle when we are separated then Wil will be._ **

He doesn’t know how long his egos were arguing, but Tyler and Ethan stood behind him almost protectively, and Jack was staring dumbly at him. He took the chance and allowed himself some pleasure in making a criminal overlord forget how to speak.

Tyler clapped a hand on his shoulder, concern etching into his features. “Are you okay?”

Mark really didn’t know, his egos were still arguing in his mind. Dr. Iplier seemed to be almost in mental tears, upset that he couldn’t bond yet. Wilford didn’t seem to regret a thing, Dark was furious, and Google was upset as well. He did catch a few words that went together though. Something Nate had talked about. “It seems to be that… Wilford has… a mirroring partner?”

Tyler looked confused for only a moment before speaking. “Didn’t you say it was Dr. Iplier who had the partner? Do two of your egos have a partner?”

“Dark seems to have one too.” Mark muttered. “And they all seem to have to do with Jack.” He groaned, running a hand down his face. “Fuck _my life.”_

“Hey, what’s wrong with having me as a partner?” Jack was grinning again, confused face gone and- he knew, didn’t he? He had known this entire time, because he had good egos that didn’t _hide stuff from their hosts!_

 **_Can you please stopping thinking so much?_ ** Dark grumbled, still clearly upset. **_It’s giving me a headache and I don’t even have a head._ **

Mark forced himself into a calmer state as Ethan spoke up. “At least it’s not several different people. Imagine having to stay around 2 or 3 different people for the rest of your life.” He grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “I can barely handle Tyler.”

_“Excuse me?”_

That got a laugh out of Mark, which helped calm him as well. He looked back at Jack, who was still smiling and still happy and he was wondering when that other side of him would peek out again.

“Which one of your egos uses energy bullets?” He asked, trying to put force behind his voice, and ultimately failing, which sucked because this was now permanent. It was weird to think about it. He found Jack weird and creepy, but soon his egos will have pushed that from his mind, when enough time passes. Partners affect the host too.

“That be Chase.” Jack murmured, and Mark could practically see Wilford excited in his mind, talking about a new shooting buddy. “Why haven’t our other egos bonded?”

Mark grinned, a feeling of pride of his egos washing through him, which he was sure they felt, since Dark’s mood got lighter and the doctor wasn’t upset anymore. “Because my egos are stopping it from happening. We don’t think that this is the time to bond, not right after everything that’s happened.”

Jack had seemed to freeze, as if it never occurred to him that Mark’s egos would hold off on the bond. His egos were probably in a fit as well, which would definitely melt into whatever Jack was feeling right then.

He was correct. When Jack blinked, his eyes turned green, and he growled, voice distorted. **_“Just let me bond for fucks sake!”_ ** He roared, before blinking again, his eyes going back to normal. True to most times an ego talks through their host, he didn’t even seem to realize it had just happened. “We’ll be stronger if you do.” He said, taking the less aggressive way then whatever ego had just spoken (he’s guessing Dark’s partner because Dark had just gone uncharacteristically quiet), but he was still angry so his words were still sharp. “We’ll have to do it at some point. Your egos will lose their will to fight it soon enough. Why not do it now instead of when we have no choice?”

It made sense, but it was also Jack, the crime lord saying it. He was already feeling a lot safer around the man then he had felt five minutes ago, but his paranoia still held strong, and he thanked it for that.

“Once we destroy the Grand Judgement, we can bond.” A sly smile started to make it’s way on Mark’s lips. “If you help us out, it’ll go by a lot faster. And once the rebellion is done, I won’t have any reason to run from it, will I?”

It was a risky thing, what he was doing. He didn’t know what he would do after the rebellion, but he hoped it had something to with his family. He was basically planting the idea of him staying with the crime lord after the rebellion into Jack’s head. And he really wouldn’t have a reason or place to run to, nothing to protect him once everything was over.

The hand on his shoulder squeezed a little tighter, and he knew that Tyler was not happy with what he was doing. But if it stopped him from bonding, if it let him get through with a clear head, if it let him finish this rebellion, he would do it.

Jack’s face cooled into something he didn’t like, his eyes narrowed but a smirk plastered on his face. Mark could again see another side peak out of him. “Do my ears deceive me?”

“Yes.” Tyler growled, and Mark was being pulled back. “They do. We need to have a talk with Mark.” He jerked Mark’s shoulder back, turning him around and out of the room.

He let the tall man lead him to an empty room, and waited for Ethan to join them before closing the door. Surprisingly, it was Ethan who spoke first. “Are… you… _crazy?!_ ”

Mark huffed. “No…” Slightly.

“You, are literally giving a criminal mastermind a time and reason for why he should lock you up and throw away the key!” Ethan looked at him like he was an idiot. “So after the rebellion is over, you plan to pack up and join the criminal underground? He might be your egos partners, but even your _egos_ seemed to understand that he is not safe! They are _literally holding off_ on bonding so that you’re not around the guy!”

“Then what should I do, just not bond?” Mark asked, feeling a keen sense of hopelessness wash over him at Ethan’s words. As the hopeless reached his stomach, it turned into rage. “Wilford already is, and the Doctor is in _pain_ just denying the bond! Even Dark wants it, no matter how much he tries to push it away! I can’t just take my egos away from that! I can’t do that to them, and _how dare you_ even suggest that **_I not bond with my partners!_ **”

It was the first time Mark ever felt and remembered his egos taking over his voice, and it was strange. The voice was warped, an enraged mix of all his egos besides Google. Ethan paled, backing up. “T-that’s not what I meant.”

Mark was still upset, and he went to yell some more when Tyler move in front of Ethan, staring, almost glaring, at Mark as he spoke. “That’s not what he was saying, and it’s an insult for even thinking that that’s what he meant. He meant sacrificing everything you have, to be… whatever Jack wants you to be! He’s a crime lord, Mark, he’s someone who’s not completely there anymore, from all the times he's been collared and shocked and beaten. And instead of throwing yourself at his feet, you should make an agreement! You guys will have different rules when it comes to partners. Stop speaking with your heart and start thinking with your head! And not just your egos, but yourself as well! To have a good partnership, the host needs to be in it as much as the ego!”

Tyler looked mad, and Mark realized that he had just yelled at Ethan. He felt bad on his own, but it was also his egos yelling at Blank and Apocalypse would not have that. He’s never seen Apocalypse speak through Tyler, but at the moment he seemed closer to surfacing then he ever had before, and Tyler showed it, using his tall, intimidating height and posture. His eyes seemed to almost burn with fire.

And just from the sneak peak, he could see why his name was Apocalypse.

****

**——X——**

****

“You need a lesson in what real partnerships are, and how to truly see them.”

He wanted to be mad at Tyler, he wanted to be mad at Tyler and Ethan, but he knew that that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. He felt so subdued, and he knew Tyler had done something to make him calm down, and he wanted to hate it but instead he floated through a haze of blissful calmness.

“Let Jack heal me first.” He said, feeling light and why did he need to be healed again? Everything felt fine. “Then we can do… whatever.”

Ethan took one good look at him, before shaking his head. “He’s going to be pissed when he snaps out of it.”

“Problem for another time.” Tyler replied, and they moved back to where Jack was. He was sitting on the desk, facing towards the window with a faraway look. Something about it put Mark into an even more blissful mood, but he didn’t speak on it.

“That didn’t take long.” Jack murmured, hopping off the desk. “Are the three musketeers ready to continue the conversation?”

Mark didn’t get the reference. It sounded like something out of a book, but Mark didn’t have many books to read when he was younger. Did it really matter though? He was tired.

“I don’t think it’s right to have this conversation when Mark’s injured.” Ethan said defiantly, and Mark had nice friends. They cared for him. His felt his egos sleepily agree with him. Nice, nice friends. “After he’s fully healed and gets some sleep. He isn’t in the right mind to have this important of a conversation.”

Jack narrowed his eyes, and it looked funny. Mark wanted to try doing it, but it didn’t seem to work. “But you can? This isn’t something you can butt into.”

“We’re his friends.” Tyler said, and they were. Good friends, gooood friends. “And being partners ourselves, we know how important this is. Both of you will regret it afterwards if you both agree to something one of you didn’t want.”

“Now, if you would please.” Ethan spoke, and his voice was hard and nooooooo Mark didn’t like it when his friends were upset. “Heal whatever injuries you can on him, and we’ll get him into a bed and resting.”

Jack stared. He stared for a long, long, time before laughing again. “Ooh, you guys remind me so much of Robin.” He moved over to stand in front of Mark, placing a hand on each of his shoulders. He looked Mark over, scanning him for internal wounds. After a moment, Mark could feel the broken and shattered bones in his upper body mend, going back into place and settling. His head cleared just a tiny bit, bringing him back to almost fully healed. He could still feel the bruises on his body as he moved. “You got good friends, Mark. Good friends. Can’t take you away from those, that’s just hellish.”

Mark didn’t like the word hellish, it was dark and gloomy and he felt so peaceful and buzzing and blissful and _tired._

They left Jack, who went back to looking outside. They retraced their steps back to where Jack said they could get some sleep, finding a room with several empty beds and claiming it for their own.

“Ooo, a bed.” Mark said, staring dreamily at what looked to be the most comfortable of the beds. He started walking forward, making grabby hands towards it when Tyler grabbed his shoulder.

Tyler didn’t need to tell Ethan what he needed, and Ethan walked over, examining his head. His eyebrows furrowed, as if confused. “What exactly did you do? He’s acting like a child, and it looks like you cancelled out everything.”

Cancelled is a fun word. He chuckled, making to start saying it when Ethan settled a palm over his mouth, still looking at Tyler. Tyler shrugged. “I took away all of the negative emotions he was having.”

“Dude, he’s Mark. He’s been _oozing_ negative emotions since he was found out.” Ethan said, and they could tell how he was feeling? Oh no, that’s not goooood.

“And that’s with me cutting off the worst of it.” Tyler murmured, and that’s nice of him. Tyler’s nice. “I took away some others. Only happiness and peace is really left.” He raised his hands in an act of placidity after a moment. “It was mostly Apocalypse, I didn’t realize until after it was done.”

Apocalypse. Mark likes that word as well. There are so many fun words. So many...

Ethan pursed his lips, before placing his other hand on his forehead. It was silent for a moment, before suddenly his world went back into order. “There we go.” Ethan said, letting go of him, and Mark looked around, blinking. “He’s got control of his emotions again- but I left the fear and sad caps you had put up.”

Mark took a moment, before spinning around to glare at Tyler. “You’ve been blocking my emotions?”

”Also the anger one.” Ethan murmured.

Tyler didn’t look deterred or regretful. “I blocked you from having to much extreme terror or sadness or anger. I’ve done that on most of the people in the rebellion. You just have more than most, so I’ve had to keep on reinforcing them.”

“It’s one of our jobs as part of the rebellion.” Ethan inputted. “Zero has Tyler keep people from doing things they’ll regret by lowering their harmful emotions. I’m basically a calming beacon. If Blank’s putting energy into it, just being around me makes everyone calmer and happier. Every now and then Zero has us go around and balance everyone’s emotions. Usually after a failed mission or a rebel death.” He paused, looking down at his hands. “It... helps people sleep easier.”

Surprisingly, he wasn’t upset. He knew that he could be upset, but it made sense. Being so terrified that someone freezes will get people killed. If Tyler can stop that from happening, then he was actually happy about that.

“Think you can lower my fear cap some more?” He asked, smirking when Tyler actually looked surprised. “And the surprise one, if that’s an emotion. And definitely keep the cap on my anger.”

Tyler blinked, before gaining a smile and laughing slightly. He didn’t know if he did it, but he could tell Tyler was afraid that he’d get upset with them over it. It took Ethan a second to smile as well, and Mark now understood why everything always seemed so bubbly and happy around the boy too, even in bad situations. “The only time the emotion caps don’t work is when either Tyler’s collared or the one that has them are collared. But besides that, they won’t go away, and they come back once the collar is off.”

That might explain his mass panic with the collar. “Well, I’m okay with never seeing a collar again, so let’s not have that as a problem.” He yawned. “I’m going to get some sleep, heal the leftover bruises. You can explain more about partners or whatever afterwards.”

“Good nigh- er, morning.”

****

Mark woke up to Ethan snoring and Tyler absorbed in a book, sitting in a rocking chair. He groaned, sitting up. These beds were nicer than the rebellion’s beds, and much nicer then sleeping on the hard floor.

He turned towards Tyler. “Did you get any sleep?”

Tyler lowered his book, eyes already fixed on him. “Someone had to keep watch.”

Did they really? They were at Jack’s place, and he seemed to be pretty trustworthy. This was like the rebel base, Mark realized. No reason to be constantly on guard.

Where had that come from?

Mark rubbed a hand over his eyes, annoyed with himself. All ready, he was acting like Jack was just a normal person he had just met and hit it off with, not someone who had stalked and creeped on him before. He cursed at Wilford in his head, but the other ego just chuckled a response. 

“How long were we out?” Mark asked, chucking a pillow at Ethan. The boy jumped, before shifting and settling back down into sleep. “Has anyone come in here yet?”

“Few hours.” Tyler shrugged, eyes still on his book. “And this one guy walked in before apologizing and walking out. Don’t think he was a cultist.”

“Could be someone apart of Jack’s crew, if he has one.” Mark thought aloud. “The rebel’s database said he was a the only known leader of the criminal underground, which doesn’t give much to go off of.”

“He probably is the main supplier or producer of an illegal product.” Tyler murmured, only half paying attention. “You know, he has a monopoly over it. This would be either a main base, or a storage for whatever he sells. That’s why there wouldn’t be to many people, since only the actual smugglers would need to come here.”

Mark raised an eyebrow. “You just had that information stored in your head?”

Tyler shrugged again, never catching his eyes. “Gotta earn money somehow. Not much an ego can do without having to be checked. Either you get a job where they don’t care, or you steal.”

Mark has known Tyler for a while, and there were times that they lost contact, but when had he worked smuggling illegal items?

Tyler seemed to sense his curiosity. “Don’t think to hard.” He looked up over his book, eyes filling with mirth. “You’ll get a headache.”

“Hardy har har.” Mark grumbled, grinning himself. He took a second to glance at Ethan, wondering if his light mood was cause subconsciously by the boy. His mind caught onto another question. “Have we gotten contact with any rebels? Zero’s probably pissed with me and worried about you.”

“No.” Tyler was quick to answer. “You’ve been gone for around two days, us four. He might send someone out tomorrow to look for all of us. He usually give us five days after no contact, sometimes longer for scout missions.”

“But that’s without Bob and Wade.” Mark inputted, pointing a finger at him. “They’ll have gotten back by now.” Unless they were caught and tried for treason. But it wasn’t like they had brought incriminating evidence with them to go scout, so they’d have no reason to do that. Think positive, Mark.

It wasn’t working.

Tyler seemed to sense the fact that his thinking positively was failing, and sighed, finally closing his book. “You’re awful. I can’t even finish the last chapter.” He took a seat at the end of the bed, placing his hands behind him and leaning back on them. “What are you worrying about?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Mark answered quickly, because it didn’t. “You can feel my emotions? Can you just lower all of the negative ones for a bit.” Just so he could feel just a little more bliss, a little more peace before he went back into the fray. Before he had to go back to being different. “I… think better without them clouding my thoughts.”

“Bull.”

“Come on Tyler.” Mark contorted his face into that of a puppy’s. “Please.”

“It’s dangerous.” Tyler said. “Messing with emotions. The damage it can do to your brain, your immune system, your digestive system… messing with someone’s emotions too much and too regularly can and will cause you a shitload of problems.”

“You already said that you and Ethan balance out everyone’s emotions before.” Mark said. “What’s so bad about this?”

“Focus on the ‘you and Ethan’ part of that sentence, Mark.” Tyler said, tone slightly off but still passive. “It’s dangerous for one of us to do that to you. Both of us doing it together is very, very different.”

“Because you’re partners, so it works better.” Mark deduced. “I don’t really get it. Its still you messing with emotions.”

“But it’s not just lowering some while leaving others.” Tyler retorted. “It’s calculating each emotion and setting them at the right place to counterbalance them all. It’s setting it at just the right point, as that when whoever we did something to starts experiencing their own emotions again, it doesn’t completely wreck their systems when they become unbalanced.”

Well… a lot more went into that then Mark expected. “And that’s only possible with both of you, and the bond strengthens it.”

“That’s a perk of being a partner to someone.” Tyler gave off a small grin, before shifting. “Here, I want you to try sensing my aura.”

Mark arched an eyebrow. “Your aura?”

“Or Ethan’s, it doesn’t matter.” Tyler shrugged. “Everyone has them, people with egos are just easier to see. Have your egos help.”

Mark was almost positive that this wouldn’t work, but he tentatively asked his egos to turn on ‘aura vision’ or something. He almost jumped when he saw wispy tendrils of silver light emitting for Tyler, fading out to a light blue at the tips. He almost screamed when he saw the same light on his own hand, a bright red instead. His own aura was quite large, which was surprising as well.

“What the fuck did you just teach me to do?” Mark asked, more in shock then anger. “Im fucking glowing!”

Tyler gave off a short laugh. “You know what an aura is, Mark, I’m not explaining it.” He laughed some more when Mark flipped him off, which looked funnier since it had a glow of red to it. “When you're done being a baby, I want you to look at Ethan.”

Mark glared at him, smiling, before turning to Ethan. He was a ball of bright blue energy, it seemed, the strands lightening to a light baby blue at the ends. Mark took a look at Tyler, before looking back at Ethan, his egos helping him put the pieces together. “The ends of your auras, they look like they’re connected.”

If Tyler seemed surprised that he guessed, he didn’t show. Instead, he stood, taking a stride to Ethan’s bed before sitting on the end. Mark watched in wonder as their auras seemed to combine, connecting together at the ends to flawlessly blend together, creating a larger aura. Ethan shifted again, a small smile appearing on his face.

“The raw form of an ego shows mostly in the host’s aura.” Tyler explained. “That’s why egos partners don’t need the host to communicate with their partner. They do so by connecting their auras. We’ve been partners for a few years, so traces of his aura are permanently shown on me, and vise versa. As time passes, our auras will slowly blend into one color.  Our powers become stronger the more time passes.”

Mark looked on in quiet ah, not speaking for a moment. “So, our aura’s like the metaphysical version of our egos?” He got an ‘eh’ from Tyler, so he pushed on. “Can people without egos see their aura?”

“They have their own aura.” Tyler said. “It looks different, and they can’t see it, but it’s there. I suggest when everything dies down to go aura watching. It’s kinda neat.”

Mark could’ve laughed at the geeky look Tyler seemed to have adopted, but at that moment Ethan hummed blissfully, waking up fully. He stretched, before looking around and catching sign of Tyler. “Oh.” He murmured sleepily. “That makes sense.”

“Do I wanna know?” Mark said jokingly, gaining a confused look from both of them. He didn’t elaborate.

Ethan yawned, getting up. He had the motion of a house cat down on pat. “Whenever I wake up and Tyler’s in close proximity, Blank gets all…” he gestured to himself. “And it affects me. It’s been a while since this has happened though.”

He guess that even though their rooms were next to each other, it was still far enough away to stop whatever it was egos did. “He’s been sitting right there all this time.” Mark gestured towards the chair.

“No, that’s to far.” Tyler waved the thought away. “It’s why I sat in that one.” He gesture to Ethan, who looked almost as out of it as Mark had felt a while ago. “I mean, look at him. Who wants to deal with this?”

Ethan murmured out a sleepy ‘hey’ to which Mark laughed. It did have to be a problem, when they were on a mission and they needed sleep. They had to be close for it to happen, but missions can be like that. 

“Does that happen to everyone with partners?” Mark asked, because he’d like to know that before hand. He’d wouldn’t purposely sleep that close to the man anyway, but he needed to know if that’d be a problem anyway.

“Don’t think so.” Tyler scratched his chin. “Cause Blank deals only in manipulating emotions. His powers are bleeding into Ethan at the moment, so you’d have to deal with something different. Like shadows, and bullets, and accidentally getting people sick.”

Tyler laughed at Mark’s horrified look, but Ethan just slapped his arm. “Don’t say that. That won’t happen.” He blinked, looking at Mark, and he could see Ethan’s eyes clearing. “Your egos won’t do anything that would bring you harm, even if it does deal with your partner.”

“Yeah. An ego might be enchanted with their partner.” Tyler started. “But their first priority is always their host.”

“They’re possessive and protective.” Ethan finished. “Which is both great and awful, but, you know, think positively about it. They’ve been possessive over you since you knew about them. Nothing will top that.”

He felt like he was some part in a happy ever after fairytale, the way his egos grew warm in agreement.

****

**——X——**

****

“You know what’s weird?”

“You, for one.” Mark responded breezily, relaxing on his bed. Ethan snorted, before going back.

“Besides that.” He directed his question at Tyler. “Mat and Nate. Have you checked their aura?”

Tyler took a moment, before freezing. “You saw it to? I thought something was wrong.”

“What?” Mark asked, thoroughly confused and out of the conversation. “What’s wrong with them? Besides everything else?”

“They have, like, the exact same color of an aura. Down to the last tint.” Ethan said. “It’s this mix of purple and green, but somehow it looks like a cloudy, stormy blue. I know they’re partners, but for their egos to be so well blended-“

“The only reason I knew their original colors were purple and green was because of the origin light coming directly from their bodies.” Tyler cut off but still picked up where Ethan left off. “There’s, like, a centimeter left of the original color of their auras. It’s bizarre.”

“Maybe they've been partners for a long time.” Mark suggested.

“Don’t think so.” Ethan said. “My mom and dad were partners- said they had been partners since they were teenagers. When they taught me how to see auras, their own were still pretty distinct. They had been forty at the time. I check later when they were fifty, and it was still distinctive. Together longer than those two, at least. They’re just different.”

“Remember what Mat said about the collars?” Tyler asked suddenly. “Said he was happy Nate’s had worked even though his hadn’t. He hadn’t even cared that his hadn’t worked, and Mad didn’t seem to care either. The ego’s hosts always comes before the ego’s partner, but I didn’t see even a hint of sadness from Mad.”

“Mad is a crazy unique ego.” Mark said. “He controls his host when collared. I think he’s an exception.”

“Maybe.” Ethan murmured, not sounding at all deterred. “It’s kind of like Mad considers both Mat and Nate as a host of some sort. The ego’s crazy enough for that to be possible.”

 **_Mad would’ve needed to know Nate from the beginning for that to work._ ** Dark had apparently been listening in, and felt like he needed to add his own thoughts in.

Mark repeated what Dark said, before adding his own thoughts. “They seem pretty close. And their powers compliment each other very well. I mean, they switch royal babies with other royal babies, they put some Grand Judgement into a coma, and killed others.” Mark paused. “Thinking about it, we got them out pretty easily for them being so powerful.”

“They weren’t expecting us to go after them or even know about them.” Tyler said. “It was all dumb luck.”

“What you call luck, I call skill.” Mark replied.

“Oh, so that’s why you have no skill.” Ethan retorted with a grin, smiling wider when Mark backhandedly flipped him off. “That’s not nice.”

“Getting off track.” Tyler murmured, crossing his arms. His face suddenly showed one of fierce consideration. “You think they were friends when their egos showed up? They could’ve been bonded since the beginning, like Dark suggests.”

“Could you be completely codependent on your partner?” Mark wondered. “You guys saw them- they were both so passive when we first met them, and then they grouped up again, and they’re different, to say the least.” He paused for a second, before muttering lowly. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to be the source of their anger, _ever_. They just have that vibe.”

“I have no clue.” Ethan shrugged, as if the question didn’t spark any interest in him. “They look like the could be, to a certain point.”

“I can’t tell when it’s them or their egos talking.” Tyler murmured, shaking his head in something like confusion. “Their situation is just… unique. Never seen something like it.”

It was quiet for a long moment, before Ethan stretched. “I’m hungry, let’s find some food.”

  


It took them a few minutes, but they stumbled upon a kitchen soon enough, vacant but full of food. And not just normal rations, but meat and bread and vegetables.

Mark’s never had a sandwich before. They don’t disappoint.

The kitchen was quiet besides the sound of chewing when a loud voice cut off the silence. “So, What do you plan on doing now?”

Mark didn’t take his eyes off his food, pretending not to care as Jack sat down at their table, taking the seat next to him. In reality, he was watching his every move, storing the particular habit of scratching his neck he’s seen the man do. He was doing it now, idly scratching at the healed over thin scars covering his neck. To many scars…

“Going back the base.” Tyler replied evenly. “We need to report back, they’ll send a rescue group if we don’t get back.”

It was a thinly hidden warning, to not mess with any of them, but if Jack caught it he didn’t show it, or seem to care. Instead, he grinned. “Hopein you’d say that.” He chuckled. “I want to join you.”

Mark blinked, surprised and confused. “What? Wait, don't you have, like, a drug ring to take care of here? Why’d you come back with us?” Not to mention that he hinted at being found out for the multiple egos he may have, and going out right afterwards was Mark levels of stupid.

“I think Zero would love to met the partner of the multi ego man.” Jack smiled, something glimmering in his eyes. “And I found something I think the rebellion would love to know-“ he paused, as if just then registering Marks words. He looked revolted. “Drugs? Really?”

Mark held his hands up. “Criminal Leader. What was I supposed to think?”

“More like Robin Hood without the scandals-“

“Ladies, please.” Tyler cut them off, before looking at Jack. “What were you saying about having information for the rebellion?”

He paused, and seemed to take on a business persona. “A backdoor, so to say, into the Grand Judgement.” He paused. “Sorta like how Mad and Mare use to get into the place, but they didn’t use this way.”

Ethan arched an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“It takes magic to clear out.” Jack responded. “One person with earth magic would be enough, probably. Anyway, it’s a way straight into the council room.” He grinned. “It’s been what Zero’s been looking for for awhile now.”

Tyler leaned in. “And where’d you get this information?”

Jack leaned in as well, a wild grin on his face. “Does it matter?”

 **_Oooh._ ** Wilford said, still giddy. **_He soooo killed someone._ **

Mark swallowed thickly at his ego’s words, unsure why he felt so worried all of a sudden. A host being scared of their ego’s partner? Unheard of.

 **_Well,_ ** Dr. Iplier started dully. **_We are unheard of._ **

_Not anymore._ Mark thought sadly, unsurprised of the silence afterwards. One of his egos was humming in agreement, but he couldn’t tell which one. Maybe they were humming just to mark their presence, to tell him that they were there. It was appreciated, definitely.

“I guess not.” Mark said slowly, making sure his tone said something different. “Anyway, this is on short notice. I’m not quite sure Zero would be exactly thrilled with us from bringing you to the ‘top secret base’.”

Jack grinned. “That’s what will make it fun.”

  


“What we plan to do?” Mat repeated Ethan’s question slowly. After a moment, he shrugged. “I dunno.”

Mark blinked. The answer sounded so off from what he knew Mad to be. “You… you don’t?”

Surely he’s thought of what he’d do once he had escaped? He has a partner and he’s seemed to have gone on a lot of adventures before. Mark knew he must’ve thought of something while imprisoned, and even if he didn’t, Nate must’ve had an idea.

He shrugged again. “When I’m collared, Mad always takes the wheel, and I just kind of go to sleep. There’s no time for me to really formulate a plan once Mad gets us out. He might have something, but he’s silent right now.”

Tyler placed a hand on Mark’s shoulder, startling him slightly before he leaned in to whisper. “Check their auras.”

Mark still wasn’t quiet sure on how to do it on his own, but he heard Dark grumble in his head before, like a light switch, everything became bright and colorful.

There were a few flame cultists in the room, talking in low tones by a shrine. Their auras both flickered and lashed about like a fire itself. They weren’t as bright as an ego’s, but Mark could see an outline of white on both of them before it faded into red and orange, like an actual flame.

Ethan and Mat had continued talking, and Ethan’s bright blue seemed to mingle happily with Mat’s dark blue aura, like their egos where becoming friends as well. The light Mat was radiant in was a bright light green, though.

Mark shuttered at the thought. He didn’t really know Mad, but from what he’s seen and heard, getting him and Blank together can’t be good.

But that wasn’t what Tyler was talking about it seemed, since Nate walked into the room at that exact moment.

And he’s never seen anything like this before.

His and Mat’s auras connected instantly, spreading out to cover the entire room in its presence. Mark even felt it, if he relaxed his own senses. The thing was, their auras were the exact same color, down to the same shade and hue. Mark couldn’t tell where one began or where the other ended. It looked like there was only one aura, that they shared it.

How long had they been bonded for their auras to be that well connected? It felt like it should be impossible.

It looked like his amazement wasn’t subtle, as Nate nudged Mat as he passed him, a small smirk settled on his lips. In what seemed to be a mental conversation, Mat knew immediately what he was inferring to. “Confused?” He asked, amused.

Not only had the auras confused him, but the fact that they knew that he was looking at them made him almost flabbergasted. “Um, er-“

Nate waved it away. “Everyone’s eyes shine a little brighter when they look at people’s auras. It’s no problem.”

“It’s really cool to see something like what you two have.” Ethan jumped in, either to save Mark from his embarrassment (unlikely) or because he was curious himself. “If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you guys been partners?”

Mat shrugged. “I don’t know the exact age.” He looked over at Nate, who shrugged as well. “We met as practically toddlers and bonded right then, before our egos even showed up. Our auras were created together cause of it, maybe that’s why they’re completely the same color.”

“Everything was great for a little bit.” Nate said, not letting anyone speak their surprisement. He paused, before looking over at his partner with a joking frown. “Before that science fair.”

Mat gave him the side eye. “Story for another time.”

“Did you burn down the school with a paper mache volcano?” Mark said jokingly. He stopped smiling, though, when Mat’s face went dark.

“No.” He said, and it was the first time Mark’s seen the man’s face look ashamed. “Something much, much worse.”

****

**——X——**

****

Mark always had a hard time going into the noble’s quarter. He was always worried about being discovered, but he hated the brutality he’d see on the streets. For being a nicer, much more high tech place then the normal (or ‘peasant’s’) quarter, it was so much more of a violent, antisocial area. On the surface, everything looked nice. Nobles and aristocrats would say their dailey hellos to neighbors and friends they would pass, and the children with magic would play on the streets, honing their skills with their friends.

But once you turned away from the sunshine, you’d see the nonmagical kids hiding, hopeing to get through the day without being picked on by whoever caught them. You’d see them already working, trudging along with other servants to do grueling tasks. You’d see older servants being beaten right there on the sidewalk for so much as dropping something. And no one helped them, but instead they’d cheer on their ‘owner’ to teach them a lesson. Nobles, be magical, nonmagical, or ego, were taught from day one who was superior. Someone could be born to the highest aristocrat, but without magic, they could become a servant just as easily as someone from the regular quarter.

And that’s just talking about regular servants, not egos. Nobles with an ego walked around on a high horse, waving the remote that controlled someone’s collar high like it was a trophy of some kind. As long as the remote was turned off, the ego could use their powers, but once it was on, they’d get shocked. Metal prongs would dig into their skin until it bled and then they’d shocked them.  The remote had a button to just shock them for no reason, not as painful, and it didn’t cut into their skin, but it was just another way to push what they thought was fair on someone who didn’t deserve it. And it didn’t matter who you were, the child of a Grand Judgement member, someone from a different kingdom, a young kid. If you had an ego, if you were special enough to have raw, unique, magic inside of you, you weren’t worthy of freedom.

Mark wondered if it all started from hatred. There weren’t many egos, not as many as magical people. And even though there are more regular people, they wouldn’t win in a war with all magical people. Mark’s mother once said, when he was young, that some of the early magical people felt superior to regular people, but were envious of those with egos. With magic, there can only by four different kinds, but with egos, they’re all special, unique. Mark didn’t understand it when she first explained it, but he was understanding it now, because he didn’t think egos would still be enslaved this long for any other reason besides jealousy and power. And he’s seen it in noble’s eyes, hands tightly fisted or holding a weapon or flames, when they swing. Their eyes are full of hatred, only turning satisfied once they're done. He doesn’t know how someone could let their emotions do that to an innocent, but if they’re taught that it’s okay from the beginning, then it isn’t wrong to them.

No, that doesn’t make it right, though. Because there are nobles that know it’s wrong, even though they went through the same schools that other worse nobles went to. Bob, Wade, Brad, Azalia. Maybe it’s really whoever a parent is, or maybe it’s just who they really are inside.

He really doesn’t know.

What he does know, though, is that what he was witnessing right now is something that no one should ever have to see or be apart of.

There was a noble on horse, seemingly a high end noble if he looked at the clothes. There were three different people walking behind the horse, two females and a male, the male and one of the females collared, while the other wasn’t.

Mark was with the others going to join them on their trip back. Jack was still doing something, so the others were waiting outside for him, at a medium sized table. It was getting dark outside, evening mist barely seeable in the still sunny light.

Mark had to stop himself from getting up to help the noncollared lady as she stumbled and fell, dropping the items she was carrying. She simply looked to weak to carry on.

The man paused, stopping to help her. He had started to get her up when the noble stopped walking. He barked something, but the man -still strong and proud and unbroken it seemed, even though he looked weak and frail and already half dead- just glared at the noble, before continuing helping the girl.

The noble barked something again, and Mark fidgeted, wanting to do something to help.

The others were watching to, albeit more discreetly then he was. “Do you think we could cause a big enough distraction to get them out?” Ethan asked.

“There’s a lot of people on this street.” Tyler murmured sullenly. Granted, most of the people weren’t super close, but they’d be able to see if the two ran. They’d be able to see what Mark’s group did.

Mark didn’t really care, since at that moment, something happened and the noble dove his hand into his pocket to grab something, and the collared man gasped, jerking away from the still laying servant woman before spasming. The other collared woman dropped down next to the man, whispering something, probably comforting words, to him as he shook.

Suddenly, the noble’s saddle fell off the horse, taking it with him. The noble yelped, taking his hand off of the remote he was holding, causing the other man to still with a gasp.

Mark turned to look at Mat, who twirled a leaf in his hand, barely paying attention to what was happening. He caught Marks eye and winked, before entering the light conversation the others were having to hide the fact that they were watching.

Mark watched as the noble looked at the saddle, getting up and putting it back on his horse, uncaring of the ego and host unmoving on the floor behind him. Once his horse was saddled again, he barked once more. “Get up!”

The collared female was still whispering to the man, but it was becoming more and more frantic. Mark watched in unbidden horror as the woman started shaking the man, sobbing at the limp form, _the corpse,_ before her.

Tyler looked over again, squinting, before his eyes softened in sadness. “ _Oh no.”_

So Tyler knew too, the man was dead. Maybe he was too weak to hold on, collared for too long. The electricity was too much for his system, and it all shut down.

 **_That’s not what he’s talking about._ ** Dr. Iplier said softly. **_The two egos. They’re partners._ **

Oh no.

The woman’s sobbings got louder and harsher, racking her lungs as she cried and coughed and heaved. The noble seemed to have realize something was wrong by then, and the servant was starting to try and comfort the collared female.

The collared woman’s sobs turned into a scream, and she held out her hands. Mark could actually see the electricity sparking around her neck as some kind of energy started forming in her hand. She twitched and spazzed as the energy built up even more in her hands. The other servant backed away as the ego holding woman brought the energy up to her face. In a short explosion, the woman flew backwards, head half gone and dead as can be. She crumpled to the ground, and the only still alive servant screamed.

Mark froze, mouth gaping as police appeared from seemingly nowhere only minutes later, picking up the corpses and shackling the servant, giving the chains to the noble before disappearing, as if the noble hadn’t just directly and indirectly killed two people. The noble disappeared moments later.

Mark looked at his friends, no words able to come to mind. Mat was frowning, as was Nate, as if they were only mildly inconvenienced. Tyler was grimacing and Ethan was slacked jawed. The latter was openingly starting, almost glassy eyed at the blood that stained the floors and walls around where the corpses were.

That’s when Jack finally appeared, slinging over a pristine backpack on his shoulder. He looked over the group, frowning slightly, before speaking in a sullen voice. “What did I miss?”


	6. Chapter 6: Egos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First paragraph is a little graphic, bit of a warning.

The walk through the tunnels were silent and sullen. At least, they were for Mark, Tyler, and Ethan. The rest of the group were talking to each other. Mat and Nate shook the whole thing off, and Jack didn’t really know what happened. Somehow, though, their quips were slowly taking the edge away from the other three. Mark knows he’ll never be able to forget what was seared into his mind- the brain matter sprawled on the floor, mixed with blood and skin, bone and hair. He won’t forget her screaming, he won’t forget the man’s spasming, jerking about as his heart gave out. He won’t be able to forget it.

But he can suppress it, shove it away and never think of it again. And that’s why he joined the three’s conversation right before they left the tunnel, dragging Tyler and Ethan into it.

He had officially suppressed the memory by the time they made it to Azalia’s house. The only reason he could was because he had just then remembered about all the shit that had happened and how _pissed_ Zero was going to be. He had a strange feeling, like he was 5 again and he was about to be grounded, _again_.

Azalia took a glance at the three new people, nodding to them like she recognized them. “Base is on lockdown.” She informed. “No egos are allowed out- because of the three of you -and Two and Three are going around looking for moles. They think that your last mission was fake and that someone in the base kidnapped you.”

Tyler hummed. “Good to know he cares.”

Azalia snorted, which, for some reason, made Mark like her even more. After she allowed access for the others to come through, Mark made his way downstairs, going straight for his room. He wanted to see his doggo.

He guessed his determination made everyone else think he actually had a plan, and he heard them following behind his footsteps. When Chica wasn’t in his room, he knocked several times on Marzia’s.

Felix’s temporary room opened, and that’s when Chica ran out, a golden ball of drool somehow twisting in midair to slam into his side with her own side. Her tail thwacked his face and he huffed and fell to the floor.

“That’s-“ Nate blinked, surprised. “That’s a dog.”

Mat shrugged. “I prefer cats.”

Ethan chuckled, amused at the scene, before passing by to get into his own room. “Knock if you need me- I’m changing.”

“Ditto.” Tyler answered, moving to his own room.

“Dude,” He heard Felix, and he heard the crack in his voice as he spoke. “Everyone thought you were taken- good to see you’re okay!”

“Like anyone could hold me down for long.” Mark chuckled, rubbing Chica behind the ears. His dog panted in his face, but he gave no care. He only stopped when he heard Nate and Mat asked Felix about the whereabouts of a kitchen. Jack, on the other hand, was quiet as he gazed at Felix.

Felix finally saw him, and he paused. He blinked, before speaking softly. “Been awhile.”

“Yeah.” Jack breathed, before nodding curtly. “Good to see you.”

Felix nodded back, a soft look taking over his face. “Same.” He said, and Mark just noticed that he was holding Edgar tightly, like he was a stuffed animal used for cuddling. “I’m- I’m going to- I’m-“

Jack laughed airily. “Calm down, Fe. What, are you scared of me?”

That seemed to help, and Felix’s face turned into something more of a friendly look. “When have I ever been scared of you, short stack?”

“Who’s the one who would win in a fight?!”

“With or without egos?” Felix narrowed his eyes, clearly nostalgic about something. “Cause I’d kick your ass if you didn’t have Anti.”

Anti? Only Anti? Did Felix not know? From Jack’s look, he didn’t. The man laughed. “If you say so-“ he paused, as if to deliberately not bring something up. “Take away Anti, I still have three others.”

“I’d still-” Felix paused, blinking severely for a few moments. Yep, he didn’t know. “Wait, What?” He stared at Jack, before his eyes widen comically. “Of _fucking course!_ I knew there was _something_ about you!”

Mark entered the conversation, fully happy with his Chica time. “Sorry to interrupt, but how do you guys know each other?”

“Met when we were 15, right?” Felix said, as if thinking. “Collared to the same family?”

Jack shrugged. “Can’t remember who I was with at the time.” He spoke as if it wasn’t awful that they were captured at such a young age. “Time blurs, right?”

“True, bro.” Felix had a small smile on his face, and it was nice to see, before he turned to Mark. “Mark, you know…”

Mark’s mood soured. “Ugh, yeah, Zero. Someone probably already told him we were here.” He moved over to Tyler’s and Ethan’s doors, knocking on both before moving back to where he was. “Should probably check in though.”

So he waited until Tyler and Ethan appeared before they made their way to the command room, and Mark opened the door with as much flourish as possible, happy to make a scene as he walked in. Felix hadn’t joined them, and Jack waited outside, probably not wanting to deal with a rant either.

There wasn’t as much surprise as there was annoyance from Zero, but the relief was clear on everyone else’s face. Marzia was grinning widely, scanning them as they walked over to the command table.

“Where-” Zero’s voice was gravely, as if he was barely holding in anger. “-were you?”

“I went on a walk.” Mark said. “Through the tunnels. Found Tyler and Ethan and-“

Zero seemed to be more upset then Mark thought, as he slammed a hand on the table. “Do I look to be in the mood for your incessant jokes?!”

Mark sputtered indignantly, before crossing his arms. “ _Excuse_ me, but this is the only setting I have! And besides, I was doing something important-“

“Important enough to risk being caught?!” Zero hissed, cutting in again.

“He saved us.” Ethan joined the conversation, quieting the room. “We were trapped, would’ve been caught and collared, but he got to us before they did.”

Zero didn’t say anything about that, but Mark had the feeling that that wasn’t enough for the man, and it angered him slightly. Did he not care about his friends? “Bob and Wade weren’t even back by the time Mark was declared missing- he couldn’t of known.”

Mark shrugged. “We saved some egos too, if you care enough to know.”

Zero had calmed, but he still looked miffed. Mark wondered if Tyler had done anything to cause it. “You went out there, without any backup or plan, to help rescue some egos? You were at risk to get all three of you captured! Who are these egos to you, that’d you do this?”

He took a moment to answer. “Have you heard of Mad and Mare?”

Zero’s eyes widened, and Mark knew he had surprised him. “Mad and Mare? You saw them?! How? Where? Where are they?!”

The fact that Zero was so familiar with them made Mark even more wary. Still, surprising Zero didn’t happen regularly, so his smug smile was completely genuine. “Last I saw them, they were down in the lounge raiding the pantry.”

Tyler seemed to realize that Mark wasn’t going to explain himself, so he waited for Zero’s mouth to close before starting. “We found Mare, and he lead us to Mad. We managed to get them out afterwards.”

“So that’s why you left?” He asked Mark. “To find them?”

Mark scratched the back of his neck. He could hear Jack chuckling outside. “Not exactly-“

“So you found them accidentally?” Zero said, and Mark couldn’t tell if he was impressed or annoyed. “Mark, Mad and Mare are ranked as the most powerful egos in this kingdom- in any kingdom! They’ve leveled entire armies on their own!”

“They killed members of the Grand Judgment.” One added in.

“They’ve kidnapped and-“ Two started.

“-swapped royal babies with two different kingdoms.” Mark said. “I know.”

They blinked. “They did?”

_Oops._

Zero sighed. “What we’re saying, Mark, is that they and their partnership is the strongest anyone has ever seen. No one has heard of them in so long, they’ve been hidden ever since they were caught again. Apart they’re normal, but together, they turn into something different. No moral, no care but each other, closer to monster then man.” Zero sighed. “I didn’t even think you and your partner can compare to them.”

“Oh really?” Mark sighed, hiding his smile as Jack sauntered in, grin much to wide as he placed his elbow on Mark’s shoulder, leaning. “I bet against it.”

Zero narrowed his eyes. “Jack. What are you-“ he paused, before glancing at Mark. “Is this your partner?”

“Makes sense.” One murmured. “The radio says there was another multi ego’d man, and this guy fits the description.”

Jack narrowed his eyes slightly, before looking at Zero. “This is who I missed last time? Your men have no respect.”

Zero nodded curtly, glancing at One. “This man, who I called Jack, goes by the name of Septic to others. Treat him with the respect you treat me with.”

Something seemed to have dawned on One as that name was spoken. Their eyes widened, filling with horror as they nodded quickly. Jack’s satisfied smirk made Mark curious and scared at the same time. “That’s better.”

“So.” Zero laced his fingers together. “In the time you’ve been gone, you rescued two of the highest egos known to man, and found the only other man with multiple egos and partnered with him. Anything else?”

“We saw a magic flame cult.” Ethan interjected, and Mark held in a snort. None of them had said anything about their short time in captivity.

Zero narrowed his eyes. “And you managed to stay out of any noble’s hands?”

Mark smiled, gesturing at his scarless neck. “Collar marking free.” He said, staying around the truth.

Zero stared at him, before sighing, leaning back in his chair. “We’ll discuss this more later. I’d like to have a word with Jack, though.” His eyes shifted to his new target. “About accommodations for the time you’re here.”

Marzia stood up. “I’ll go and show Mad and Mare their rooms. We still have a few open ones, even with Mr. Septic and Felix.” She hid a smile as she added Mr. to Jack’s ‘code name’, but Jack could see it and he didn’t look upset about her little tease. That seemed to be a good sign.

Jack didn’t look at all concerned, so Mark took his leave easily, following Marzia down to the lounge. Mat was drinking water, and looking upset about it, while Nate shoveled fruit down his mouth.

“They’re going to clean this place out.” Marzia murmured, but Mark wasn’t worried. He had been taking food via shadow (and with some good stuff too- sodas and meats and something called _alcohol_ -) since he left. He refilled the shelves without looking as Marzia moved over to take a seat next to the two, leaving a seat open for himself.

Mat glance over, before smiling. “Marzia.” He nodded. “Long time no see.”

Her lips twitched up. “Indeed it has been.” She nodded towards Nate as well. “Never thought I’d see you with the Rebels.”

“That was before they started splitting partners up.” Mat said, looking relaxed but sounding angry. Mark wondered how they knew each other, but they seemed to be on good terms. “And there was so much fun happening outside.”

“How could you expect us to stay in one place so often?” Nate had swallowed his food, grinning. “We’ve done more good out there then we could’ve in here. Zero’s to cagey.”

“Not always.” Marzia admitted. “It only started after the attack on our last base.” She paused. “And, you know, Mark.”

Mark turned to her. “What’d I do?”

“Exist.” Mat answered, and Mark deflated. It was true, Zero had been less willing to let any egos out since he was discovered. Mat gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Zero has a strange fascination with egos, don’t take it personally.”

“That’s why we never stayed.” Nate interjected. “Besides the fact that it’s boring in here. You’ve probably never really noticed, since it’s never been directed at you before.”

“I’m starting to.” Mark rumbled. “What do you guys personally think… of Zero? You too, Marzia.”

The three were quiet for a moment, when, in a small voice, Marzia whispered. “I don’t trust him.”

“Neither do I.” Mat agreed.

“Guy always felt off to me.” Nate murmured.

“And that’s saying something.” Mat continued.

“Because look at us.”

“Can we really say that?”

“When we ourselves are off?”

“But yeah.”

“I don’t trust him.”

Mark barely noticed the fact that they were ending each other's thoughts, instead swallowing thickly. So it wasn’t just him. “Think Jack’ll be okay?”

“He’ll be fine.” Marzia said, and her breezy words made him calm slightly. “I don’t think Zero’s that untrustworthy.”

“Erm.” Mat started, and it was followed by a “We’ll see” from Nate.

****

**——X——**

****

“Turn the radio up!” Someone at a different table said, and the radio in the middle of the lounge was cranked louder.

 _‘News of the group of four rebels has spread like wildfire in the last few hours._ ’ Some female said on the radio, and Mark perked up to the news. _‘After being caught and detained only five hours ago, the Grand Judgement has already passed their punishment.’_

 _‘They would not tell us what we wished to know._ ’ A new, male voice spoke, deep and raspy. _‘As punishment for treason, the air magic user of the rebels will be imprisoned for 20 years, and the other three will be hanged for their crimes._ ’

Everything seemed to slow down as Mark looked over at the other three, Marzia looked grim, glaring at the radio. Mat and Nate grimaced, but continued on with their food.

 _‘This was the judgement passed on thirty minutes ago._ ’ The female voice continued. _‘But then heir to the sky side of the Grand Judgement passed her speech of a 70 year sentence for all four rebels. Since both heirs of the Grand Judgement are unknown, such an appearance of one of them seemed to have changed opinions. Each rebel will live the rest of their lives in prison instead of the death punishment-_ ’

Noise erupted from people in the lounge, blocking out whatever else was said. Mark swallowed thickly, relieved but still feeling sick. He didn’t know who the rebels were- they didn’t say, but what if the one with air magic was Wade… he didn’t know what he’d do.

Marzia sighed, before speaking. “That was part of the financial team- they had signed up for the search and rescue for you, Tyler, and Ethan.” She bit her lip. “Thank god for the heir, whoever she is.”

Mat smiled slightly. “That was unexpected of her. The heirs of the Grand Judgement are all silent until they’re appointed, to keep them safe.”

“They even went into hiding after we killed the last two leaders in charge.” Nate shrugged, eyes flashing. “And, you know, like seven others as well.”

Marzia frowned. “We really are lucky. That heir is the daughter of the two leaders you two killed. Why she would show mercy on a rebellion for egos when it was egos who killed her parents, I don’t know.”

That’s when Mark smiled, understanding creeping up. “Maybe her new family taught her that rebels aren’t the bad guys, then.”

Nate snorted. “Nobel parents? They would never.”

“I said family.” Mark’s smile turned genuine. “Maybe she had a brother who knew right from wrong.”

  


There was a group put together, rebels that wanted to help break the search and rescue team out of prison. Mark’s group wasn’t allowed on it, and the group itself wouldn’t go into effect for another few months, to calm the air around it and not cause trouble to the heir, who stuck her neck out to save them.

Everyone on the team was normal, and so Zero had them go out on extensive training to prepare them as best as possible. The team was small, only five people, but the rebellion itself only had around a hundred in its ranks, and Zero couldn’t risk more than that.

Especially when it’s ego evac team seemed to be slightly suicidal when it came to their job.

But besides that team, everyone else was focused on the information Jack had provided. Apparently, Zero thought that it was enough to form a plan to actually end the rebellion once and for all- with the rebels on top.

“Based on the information provided by outside sources-“ Zero was broadcasting his voice to a lounge full of rebels. At least 90 rebels had shown, and Mark had the honor to watch everyone’s change of face as they regarded the news. He sat at a bench with the others of the ego evac team, like normal, and he hopes no one realized he was smiling like crazy. “-There is a clear way into the Grand Judgement’s quarters, without anyone guarding it. It was once an escape route, but was blocked up once they realized that there was already a set on unused tunnels underground.” Zero paused to let the information sink in, a small smile curled on his face and he watched the rebels realize that the nobles knew of their tunnels. He didn’t seem to care, though. “Once inside, we can change history.”

Mark didn’t expect the other rebels to start cheering- his message was rather vague, but they did as Zero started to walk out of the room. Mark narrowed his eyes, wary, before looking around the room again. Once he could see everyone’s aura, he could also see a blue mist spreading around the room, slinking around people and clinging to them. Ethan.

The boy gave a pointed shrug when stared at, saying “He told me too.” And Mark couldn’t ask why because that’s when Zero started calling teams to come talk when him and the evac’s team was called so they had to move.

His team and one other team (the assassination team basically but Mark didn’t want to bring that up) followed Zero and the other higher ups to the command room. Jack was lounging on a chair inside, spinning around and looking at the ceiling. Mark forgot that he had on his aura vision, so even though the man barely glanced at them, he could see his aura visible bounce in happiness, stretching out towards himself.

He didn’t know wether to be complimented or creeped out at that.

It was one of those times where the extra chairs were actually used since Zero let everyone sit down for once. As everyone sat, Mat and Nate made themselves appear, taking a seat in the back corner away from everyone else. Surprisingly, not many seemed to notice their appearance, which was strange coming from the team of rebels skilled in stealthily taking lives.

“I would like this to be a final stand against the Grand Judgement-“ Zero started once everyone was seated. “-but that’s wishful and idiotic thinking. I would also like this to be a mission with no egos involved-“ Zero’s eyes glanced over all those who were present, Felix being the only one not. “-But that would be idiotic, too. Every member of the Grand Judgement has had years of practice, fine tuning their magic. Those with magic will have a hard time defeating them, those without don’t have a chance.”

“Without risk, there is almost no gain.” One inputted. “And we will have a lot to put at risk, with both team Delta and the evac team going on this mission. Even Zero will be watching.”

If he expected that to surprise Mark, he didn’t get what he wanted. Mark listened in as Zero took back the attention of the room, slightly confused by whatever plan had been made.

“Team Delta will be on the offensive, attacking immediately after the given signal and drawing the Judgement’s members away from collared egos or servants. The evac team will work on bringing innocents back into the tunnels, before coming to help team Delta.” Zero paused, before looking into the back, where Mat and Nate sat. “Can I be expecting your help?”

The two looked at each other, before shrugging. “Sure.”

Zero let a small smile grace his face, before continuing. “Team Delta will herd the Judgement members over to where Matthew and Nathan are stationed, where they can take them out or incapacitate them. Once everyone is taken care of, we’ll move onto phase 2.”

Two leaned forward, continuing. “Phase 2 includes the two heirs of the Grand Judgement.” They started, and Mark’s breath caught. They wouldn’t try to hurt Aloona and the other heir, right? “We are in direct alliance with one, and indirect alliance with the others. When we make it known that the Grand Judgement has fallen, and the two heirs are in our custody, we’ll exchange them for better rights and laws for nonmagical people and egos. The heirs can help keep the laws intact thereafter.”

It was quiet for a moment, before Zero spoke. “Any questions?”

It took only a few seconds before a man on team Delta spoke. Team Delta was one of the biggest teams in the rebellion, rounding up to 8 people. There were only 5 with them, since three had volunteered for the rescue team. The three that volunteered, though, were the only normal 3, and the five left were all magical. And good at their job.

So the man that raised his hand was the cocky guy of the bunch, the only fire user named Kev. The guy had a stocky build and blonde hair, hiding bright blue eyes behind them. He was friendly and cool to be around, but had an ego that left everyone in the dust. Team Delta was use to it, but the other rebels just left him alone with his cockiness showed. “Yeah, question here.” He started. “Why are we leading them to these two?” He jabbed a thumb back at Mat and Nate, who were barely paying attention. “Shouldn’t we lead them to someone more qualified, like me?”

Mat busted out in giggles, not trying to smolder it at all. Kev give him a confused glare, before Zero butted in. “I insure you, Matthew and Nathan can handle the pressure.”

Kev was cocky, but he wasn’t Mark levels, so he grumbled and sat back in his chair. It seemed like that part of the meeting would be over, when Mat spoke again. “Do you want a demonstration?”

Mat’s eyes had turned slightly glinted, a glaze of some sort clouding over them. His grin was much to wild, and Nate’s grin was slowly turning into one as well, as if he was feeding off of his partner’s own manic energy. Mark wouldn’t be surprised if he was.

Kev blinked, eyes narrowing. “What do you mean? Like, a duel? You got magic?” Kev was slightly on the slow side, but he was still of average intelligence, so he knew something was up. Sadly, his intelligence meant jackall in face of an ego.

“I’ve got an ego.” Mat smirked. “And I do mean that. How about me… verses you and the rest of team Delta?”

What… was he doing?

Mark might’ve never seen Mat’s powers in action, but even he didn’t want to go up against 5 trained magic users, and he had 4 different powers at his disposal. Kev must’ve understood that as well, since he narrowed his eyes in suspicion, before it changed to anger. He seemed to think that Mat was downplaying their skill.

“Who are you to even think that?!” Kev growled, and the other members of team Delta seemed to be struggling to come up with an answer to that question. It seemed like the Grand Judgement had done a good job hiding Mat’s and Nate’s faces from the public.

“You can get an answer to that after this duel is over.” Zero interjected calmly, but his eyes showed interest. “Let’s take this to the gym before we break anything important.”

Kev seemed to become even more surprised. “You’re watching?!”

  


The gym was spacious and empty of everything besides a few punching bags and a padded floor. The outer ring of the large room was regular dirt, made into a track, and there was a sectioned off place for the punching bags and targets, but the big part of the room only had padded floors, as if the gym was basically a sparring area.

Team Delta and Mat took a stand on the padded floor, waiting for Mark’s friends and Zero (along with One -who wanted to watch- and Marzia) to settle. Jack watched over by the targets, glancing every now and then at them, and Nate sat on the padded floor, almost directly in the way of the fight.

“Okay.” Mat said. “Let’s make this fair.” He paused, looking around at team Delta. “You win if any part of my body -waist up- hits the ground.”

Kev blinked. “That easy?”

Mat hummed in agreement, before looking around again. “Right, That is a little easy for me. Okay, you guys win if any part of my body waist up hits the ground, or if any of you make physical contact with Nate, element or skin on skin. And if I get all five of you on the ground at the same time, I win.” He paused, before turning to the crowd. “That seems fair, right?”

Nate nodded easily, and Zero took a second before agreeing. “I can judge this as well.” He added.

Now team Delta just looked offended. “What?” Kev shouted. “You think he can stop all of us?!”

“Oh, I know I can.” Mat smiled, and that feral look was crossing through his eyes again. “And it’s all your fault too.” He said. “Long sleeves and gloves, all of you!”

Team Delta was known for that- black fingerless gloves and long sleeved shirts and pants. Mark didn’t know why, a uniform wasn’t required. True, the evac team always had to change clothes, to blend in with other people, but he doesn’t see the others do that too.

“The match will start in a few seconds, Kevin.” Zero warned, holding a hand up. “So I suggest you make up a plan in the moments you have.”

Begrudgingly, Kev turned around and started talking to his group. Mat looked bored for a moment, before looking up when Nate went to speak. “Don’t pull the easy trick, Mat. It’s not fun and you got an audience.”

Mat smirked, bowing dramatically. “Have to make it spectacular!”

“5 seconds.” Zero said.

Mark heard ‘speed’ thrown in the group conversation a few times, so he wouldn’t be surprised if they thought Mat’s powers was heightened speed. Both of the ways to win would be almost impossible if someone was fast enough to dodge everything. Mark snickered as Zero counted down, and the whole thing started.

Immediately, four of team Delta let out four different blasts of their own element, the fifth darting out towards where Nate sat. Mark started to compliment the strategy, when Mat’s face morphed into something wild and manic and not very Mat.

Almost in slow motion, the elements dived towards him. He stared almost boredly at this, before tilting his head. Immediately, the elements careened to the side, and the person going after Nate was thrown roughly into a wall.

“No broken or fractured bones.” Zero called out. “No torn muscles or ligaments of anything potentially permanent!”

“With that logic.” Mat said, barely paying attention. “Anything can be permanent, so I can’t do _anything._ ”

“Exactly.”

Mat sighed, annoyance fluttering across his face as the group circled around their fallen member as he got up, not letting their eyes leave Mat for a second. It took only a moment before Kev jumped in again, sucking in a breath before exhaling, letting out a roar of fire with him. Mat watched it barrel towards him, before rolling his fingers. The fire snaked around him, before darting back out towards the group still around their friend. The fire hit the single girl of the group, and she raised her hand to deflect it, when the fire changed course and knocked her down by her ankles.

Another person was thrown into a wall after her. He was crawling up to Nate, as stealthy as he could with no cover, but he hadn’t made it far.

“What is this?!?” Kev roared, using himself as a barrier as his team got back up. “There’s no way! He must be cheating, somehow!” His face was red in embarrassment, and Mark knew he thought he would just walk in here and win easily. Kev grew up in the noble quarter for almost his entire life, he only left when one of his friends was forced into servitude since they were a regular. He never really grasped the concept that those with magic aren’t superior. He didn’t bring it up, and he was never harsh to those without, but it was drilled into his head at such a young time, he can’t understand it.

Zero sighed. “Matthew offered to show you why he could deal with his mission with only Nathan as help, and yet you think he’s pulling something? This was not what this demonstration was for.” He turned to Mat. “Finish this, it’s only a waste of time now.”

Mat grumbled at Zero, as if not wanting to listen, but the fight left him when Nate nodded at him. With a dramatic wave of his hand, the whole of team Delta collapsed to the floor. They all gasped in surprise of their own fall,  but they couldn’t get up and Zero called the round.

Kev went off to grumble by himself, and it was the female of the group, Lena, to actually come up to talk to Mat. Mark himself was close enough to listen in, but he didn’t want to eavesdrop so he just added himself to the conversation.

“I speak for the whole team when I say we underestimated you.” She started. “If you don’t mind me knowing, where do you stand on the ego’s ranking chart?”

Mark knew of a chart, for both magical and ego holding people. Zero had spoken of it earlier- he had said that as partners, Mad and Mare were the highest ranking egos in any kingdom. As far as he knows, the chart is based off of power, mostly, and that the magical chart is far more accurate then the ego chart, since some powerful egos are off the radar of those in control of the chart, egos like himself, Tyler, and Ethan. He knows that in Azalia’s prime, she was in the top 5 for the magical chart, if not number 1. It’s most likely changed since then, though.

The chart was important to nobles, and some would duel to get bumped up higher on said chart. Being higher up on the chart instantly made said person a higher noble, or even a low aristocrat. It dictated a lot of diplomatic processes, like arranged marriages, or deciding who will be the next Grand Judgement heir. Mark guessed that’s why Zero didn’t let Mat tell them who he was, just so when Kev and the others find out that it’ll be more of a lesson for them. 

“Last time I checked, Nate and I were tied for number 1.” Mat said, not hiding the smug tinge of his voice. “But we’re partners, so maybe i’ be lower down without him. They only count us together, but I’d say top 10 apart either way.”

Lena seemed to be having trouble pieces it together, or, she seemed to be having no trouble figuring it out, and she just had trouble understanding. “You… your ego… is Mad? You and Nathan are Mad and Mare?!”

“Yep.” Nate added in from where he still sat, lounging with his stomach wide open and unprotected. He seemed to not be worried at all by any chance of fatality or pain. He trusted his partner unconditionally.

Mark subconsciously wondered if he’d ever do the same.

Said partner was healing the minor bruises and cuts gained by the pathetically short fight, and he looked over, as if he knew what Mark was thinking. He deliberately didn’t look his way, opting to pretend he didn’t see it. His egos deserved this, so he would be friends with the man. He didn’t know if his tolerance went far past that, though. At least he was healing people, that was nice.

“Now that that’s fine.” Zero said. “Let’s get back to business.”

  


“There is one fatal flaw of your plan, Zero, that I would like to point out.” Mat said. “I even have a solution to fix it.”

They had journeyed back to the command room, taking their seats back of Zero finished up tying little details of the plan. Zero himself looked over. “Please do.” He said, voice slightly amused.

Mat caught it, giving him a slight side eye before continuing on. “The Grand Judgement doesn’t have full bodied meetings anymore- they stopped after the last attack on them. Entering during a meeting only means a select few would be there.”

Zero hummed in irritation at the news, lacing his fingers together before murmuring. “How do you suggest we fix this.”

“We give them a reason to _all_ be there.” Mat said. “Mark.”

The room became quiet, before a short burst of outroar appeared, silenced quickly afterwards with Zero’s hand. “You want me…” He started slowly. “To use my best card before the game even starts?”

Mat smirked. “People who win know their opponents. They have a plan before the match even starts. I have a collar that I deactivated long ago. They’ll think he’s under control, and his presence will bring every single Grand Judgement member there is to their next meeting.” Mat shrugged. “Think about it.”

Mark answered for Zero, “I am thinking about it.” He murmured, nodding. “And I think it’s our best plan.”

His friends seemed to understand his idiotic self sacrifice, and only groaned, whereas the higher ups looked at him as if he lost his mind.

“Being an exhibit to Grand Judgement, if even for only a few hours, is not where you want to be.” Three murmured. “They may act noble, but they are worse then anything else I’ve ever seen. It’s sickening.”

Mark remembered then that Three had worked in the Grand Judgement before joining them. He wondered what they saw there. It didn’t matter anymore, anyways. He’d take the job as bait proudly if it stopped someone else from taking it. “We’ll need someone they don’t know to take me there.”

“Ah, no.” Mat spoke again, to Mark’s surprise. “I should probably do it.”

Now everyone was confused. One was the one who blinked and spoke. “Uh, pardon?” Several people looked at Nate, as if expecting him to do something. He just shrugged.

“For the last week or so of my captivity, they were threatening Mad with most bloody harm if he didn’t find Mark, or the multi ego’d man.” Mat shrugged, as if that wasn’t a horrible thing. “I doubt Denzil’s said anything about _you_ being the one breaking us out, but even if he did, they wouldn’t be surprised if I came back with you. I’ve done it before.”

The room paused for a moment, before, tentatively, Bob spoke. “So, you’ve escaped before, just to do something they told you to do and come back?”

“More or less.” Mat shrugged again. “It builds trust- they think of me as a dog, that I’ll always come back. Really, I only stayed because there was nothing else to do. And I found one of their daughters interesting.”

Nate perked up. “Oh, how is Step-“

Zero knocked lightly on the table, which, for once, actually got their attention along with everyone else. “Are you sure about this? One wrong move, and you’ll be collared.”

Mat smiled, something not quite good sparking in his eyes. “Oh, trust me, I’m worse with the collar on.”

****

**——X——**

****

Mark wasn’t expecting to find Marzia and Felix in the dressing room, picking through noble clothes, Felix tossing them to the side with a grunt as Marzia folded the ones she didn’t use. The thing was, the room was always messy (the evac team used the room the most and they were messy) so neither of their actions dented the room in any way.

Marzia finally came upon a police uniform, and apparently it was her size. She held it as she turned around, before frowning slightly. “Normal 3rd quadrant clothes will work.”

Felix turned and picked up something from the ground, before noticing Mark. “Hey, Mark, you’re in here a lot, right?”

“This place is practically my closet.” Mark said, hoping the joke would smooth his own nerves about the whole plan they had. His hands were shaking slightly, and he took up to fiddling with a few different clothes to hide it.

Felix chuckled. “Ok, well then, do you have any dog police vests in here?”

Mark squinted, confused. “For Edgar and Maya?” They didn’t mean Chica, Chica could never be a police dog, she was too… much.

“What, no-“ Felix blinked before shaking his head. “Wait a second. I’ll show you.”

And then, he wasn’t there anymore. Felix was going towards the ground, but he wasn’t. He was turning into a large, no, huge, stocky Great Dane. He was almost taller than Mark, and he looked almost exactly like the other police dogs Mark has seen, even though there aren’t many. 

So that was his ego’s power. “Good doggy.”

The dog, Felix, frowned. It was too human on the dog, but Mark didn’t have much time to think of it, since Felix changed back into a human just afterwards with a grin. “Surprised?”

“Very.” Mark murmured. He turned, moving over to a bag of animal vests, collars, and clothes. “So, why do you need to be a dog?”

“Marzia and I are coming with you.” Felix said, fixing his slightly disarrayed hair. “We’re going to close off the Grand Judgement building to the public. Keep people from barging in.”

“What about other police?” Mark asked. He could keep any distress signals leaving the building, but any police stationed there would definitely sense something.

“Felix can transform into almost anything living.” Marzia said, bumping said man’s shoulder. “And I can think of several different things that can put someone to sleep- or kill without being seen.”

Mark gave the other male host a second, firm look over. He didn’t take the other guy as a person who was okay with killing, but a collar changes people. It changed Marzia- it changed Jack and Nate and Mat and Ethan.

He hoped it never changed himself.

But he was scared that it already did.

  


Mat was sprawled over a couch in the lounge, fiddling with the radio. The lounge was empty, for once, with most people out training. Zero and One had occupied Mat for this process, and Nate, of course, was only a few feet away. Mark was sure that they were only separated to sleep and shower. It was an amazing thing to see, their auras reaching for one another, but it gave him a tinge of sadness as well. Not only for what they’ve been through, but for the fact that he’d never have the same. His partner might one day be his friend, but Mark just couldn’t stand for what Jack does. He does hope that they become friends, though.

“Got it.” Mat mumbled, his signal for ‘shut up before you blow it.’ He cleared his throat, before speaking. “You there, Kastor?”

“Three days?” A voice on the other side rumbled, something that was a mix of gravelly annoyance. “That’s the slowest you’ve ever been.” Mark could hear the scowl in his voice. “How much time from that was spent on you rescuing that fucking damsel of yours?” 

The voice, Kastor, bit it all out, and Mark wanted to go through the radio and riddle him with holes. He was pretty sure the ‘damsel’ was Nate (even though Mark was pretty sure he could very easily take care of himself) and he hated that the man Mat had to answer to spoke of his partner that way.

Mat’s eyes hardened, but he made no move besides that. Nate shifted closer, but he didn’t speak. “Yes.” Mat spoke dully, with a little spark of crazy, like he was trying to show compliance through his voice. “He is with me, but that’s not why I called-“

“So you finally did your fucking job?” Kastor barked suddenly, and Mark had to stop a flinch. Mat, on the other hand, made a face and a rude gesture at the radio. “Get your ass back here then, with him and your whore by tomorrow afternoon. The Grand Judgement will be expecting you.”

The radio clicked off, and Mat stretched, getting up. “Done with that.” He murmured, helping Nate up from his seat. “I’m hungry.”

“Ditto.” Nate mumbled, even though Mark’s almost positive that all they do is eat. They were almost skin and bones when Mark met them, so at least they were eating something. 

Zero waited for them to leave before speaking. He looked at Mark before asking, “Are you sure about going through with this?”

He didn’t want to, not at all. But he did want to beat this Kastor guy’s head in. He called Nate a whore! Did this guy not understand anything about ego partners? Just because the egos were infatuated (or in love, depends) doesn’t mean that the hosts were. It does happen, but it also doesn’t happen a lot. The hosts aren’t soulmates, they're not guarantees or anything like that. And, of course, both Nate and Mat acted like that was a regular occurrence, which bugs Mark even more. Mentally, he thanked his mom and brother for hiding his powers from everyone so well. He easily could’ve been in their positions.

Could’ve been like Jack.

****

“Be careful out there.”

Mark almost jumped. He had felt someone enter the room, but he was in the lounge, he didn’t think they’d talk to him. Focusing, he realized exactly who’s aura it was, and it made sense.

“I will.” Mark said as Jack slid into the booth opposite of him. The man looked a little more flushed then his usually paleness, blue eyes a stark contrast to his dark hair and outfit. “I don’t plan to be there for long.”

“Better not.” He mumbled. “The Grand Judgement- or with any aristocrat, is not where you want to be.”

Mark gestured to his own neck. “Is that where these came from?”

He knew it was a touchy subject, but he also knew it was a subject they would talk about at some point, and he knew that Jack wouldn’t be offended by it anyway.

His fingers seemed to instinctively trace the hundreds of scars on his neck as he spoke. “Nah, I’m on their good side right now. I’ve been on and off a collar for years now, being transferred from one family to the next. Many of them knew of my multiple powers and hid it from others, many didn’t. As a child, I had little to no control over my powers, so I was shocked pretty often.”

It made sense, but Mark felt like Jack’s secret would’ve gotten out sooner if his… owners knew of his egos. It took a moment before it clicked in his head (or until Google offered a solution) “You’re not from here, are you?”

He smiled. “Nope. I was born a few kingdoms over- like most egos, I got transported over here once the bidding was higher in this kingdom then my kingdom. I stayed with a drug lord until I killed him and finally got the collar off.”

Mark let a moment of silence filter through the conversation before speaking. “How long were you without your egos?”

He scrunched his nose. “I dunno. The years blend together, and I did go full blown insane for a bit- I don’t even know how old I am… so I’ll say 12. That seems right.”

Mark would’ve gone insane too, if it had been that long for him.

Scratched that, he would’ve killed himself.

“There’s a way for us to talk to at least one of our egos while collared.” Mark blurted out, and Jack’s raised eyebrow told him that he couldn’t take his words back. “I was collared once, only for a few hours. While I was awake, I found out that I could still talk to Dark because the other egos had combined their powers to push him forward into my mind. He kept me from using my powers and scarring myself. Kept me from panicking.”

Jack tilted his head at the thought, and Mark wanted to mimic him. Shifting his vision, he wasn’t surprised to see both of their auras, vast and stretching across the room, connected. It wasn’t much, since only Wilford and… Chase were bonded, but he could already see his red aura blending into Jack’s green aura. He wondered if the amount of egos would quicken the process.

“That’s good to know.” He murmured. “But my egos are fighting among themselves.”

“Why?” Mark was genuinely confused.

“They’re all sacrificing themselves to do it, so that the others don’t have to.” He had a far off look to himself, eyes glazed slightly as he listened in.

Mark caught some though, strengthening his confusion. “Wait, sacrifice? Why’s it a sacrifice?”

Jack looked up, snapped out of his thoughts. “Our egos are connected to each other almost as much as they are connected to us. Separating one ego from the others, even if only in the mind space, is painful for them after a while. Not to mention that the others have to use their energy to keep them up.”

Jack wasn’t looking at him, so he didn’t see the surprise that crossed his face. That entire time, while Mark had been panicking and getting himself fucked up, Dark had kept him leveled and somewhat in a good mental state, while he himself had been fighting his own battle.

 **_I told you, I deserve more recognition._ ** Dark murmured, his own way of lightening the joke while being honest at the same time.

 _You all deserve more than I could ever give you._ He said back.

  


Mark laid in his bed- it was morning but he didn’t want to move. They had spent the rest of yesterday planning a little bit more. Mat had fitted the collar to work with Mark without hurting him at all. Nate was going with them, but neither of them brought anything to protect themselves. They didn’t seem worried, though.

Mark shifted so that he could pet Chica as she slept, unsurprised that it didn’t wake her fully. As he got up, getting ready and changed, he left the door open and food in her bowl so that after she ate she could leave. She was one of the only dogs living in the hideout, and everyone knew who she was and who was her owner. What her owner was doing. Someone he trusted would walk her.

He wished he had time for it to be him.

After leaving the dorm level for the egos, he made his way back up to the command center, hesitating with every step. He really, really, didn’t want to do this.

He didn’t knock, just opening the door and going in. Mat and Nate were the only ones in there, and they looked the same as ever, but with clean, nicer quadrant 4 clothes. Mark knew that they knew it didn’t matter, but he didn’t say anything. It must have to do with something he doesn’t know.

Mat gave him a quick glance, before taking off the backpack he had and throwing it at him. “Here.” Mark caught it, opening the contents. Food. “You should eat before we get there. They won’t feed you. Well-“ He reconsidered, “-they won’t feed you anything you’d want to eat.”

Mark nodded, taking the cue and sitting down, grabbing a banana and eating it as quickly as possible before digging around farther. Something called jerky caught his eyes and he finished that and a normal ration before closing the bag. Nate was the one who took it from him, slinging it over his back. Mark squinted, confused. “Why pack so much?”

“We’re leaving afterwards.” Nate said, and Mark kind of expected that. “Rather have some food on the go.”

“And Nate’s going to have to hide in the Grand Judgement building for a while- until we get the signal.” Mat added in. “We get hungry quiet easily.”

“I’ve seen.” Mark murmured, because he has seen, just like he’s seen how skinny they were. Looking at the broken collar on the table, along with handcuffs, he asked, “Are those really necessary? I won’t be able to defend myself at all.”

“You won’t need to.” Mat said. “I’m going to be there until the rest of your crew shows. Then I’m going to go find Nate. You're only be on your own for a small amount of time.”

Mark didn’t respond, selecting to wait until after he had put the defect collar on to speak. “Comfy.”

“You get use to it.” Mat said dismissively, and that put something hard in Mark’s throat. He always wondered how other hosts did this, but it always seemed like every ego and host he met wasn’t right in the head. Almost every single ego he’s ever known (scratch that, _every single ego-_ ) has been collared, and they’re never the same. He can see it in Tyler, even for how short a period it was. Apocalypse always seems closer to the surface then he should be, always in the forefront of Tyler’s mind. He seems ready to take control.

Mat locked the cuffs around his hands, luckily in the front. He pulled the cuffs -and Mark- forward with his powers to test it, which Mark knew was going to happen once they got there. It has to look real. “They’re padded, but it’s not to noticeable. Don’t bring attention to it.” He grabbed the metal part in between each cuff. “Just as hard as any other cuff, but with a couple extra holes in it. Easy to break, but if they switch cuffs, they might notice.”

“Gotcha.” Mark murmured, twisting his wrists to feel the soft thin pads inside of cuffs. He patted each pocket to make sure he didn’t have anything in them, before sighing. “Well, I’m ready to end this.”

“Aren’t we all.” Nate murmured quietly.


	7. Chapter 7: Anger

Mark dropped down into the tunnels underneath the quarters. Taking a last deep breath to calm himself, he put on an indifferent face and turned to look at the other two joining him.

He, Mat, and Nate left much earlier then the others would. Nate had a radio with him, to call in once every member had actually arrived. Mark doubted they’d be able to get absolutely everyone, but he knew they could get most.

Nate and Mat were joking as they walked, speaking of something completely unrelated to what they were doing. Mark noticed that they never really talked about the next thing they were doing, as if the looks they shared was enough to communicate what they needed to. Mark knew he’d never get to that level, but he wished for it.

“It’s not as nice as it sounds.”

Mark doesn’t know if he spoke something out loud, or if Nate was that good at reading faces. He paused for a second to let Mark calm, before continuing. “A lot of bad things wouldn’t of happened if we didn’t know each other.”

Mat looked at him, frowning. Mark was curious, but also slightly uncomfortable. “I can guess.” He said, trying for a joke. “I mean, kidnapping babies, comatosing the Grand Judgement-“

“The babies were never harmed and the Grand Judgement deserved it.” Nate cut through, before looking down.

“And that’s not what he’s talking about.” 

Mark frowned, turning to Mat. He looked... _ ashamed. _

“Long story?” Mark guessed.

“Long story.” Mat affirmed.

“Well.” Mark looked around, shrugging. “Long walk.”

“You sure you want to hear it?” Mat hadn’t acted like this since they first met. Nate wasn’t even looking at them. It was definitely a touchy subject.

“If you’re willing to tell.”

Mat blew out a long, winded sigh. He caught Nate’s eye, and waited for him to nod before starting. “We’re both from the noble’s quarter, quadrant 2. We were born to high nobles who were friends. We shared a nursery whenever our parents were out-“

“-which was always-“

“-and met before we can even remember. It was probably the first time we met that we bonded, but our parents always said that we were inseparable for some reason. When we started school, our egos hadn’t shown up yet. Since magic shows up later then egos do, and we were born to high noblicity, we were put into a high level school. Ones where they try to get kids to show magic before they’re ready. Or show egos.”

Mark’s heard about those schools, and for magic kids, they were great. For anyone else, it sounded like torment. He didn’t think that they would try to unnaturally force magic and egos to show.

“But as said before, our egos hadn’t appeared at all by that time, so we passed through each test with no problem. They separated us by our talents and schooled us to be specialized in whatever that talent may be. Nate’s being musical artistry-“ Mat gestured over to the again quiet man. “-And mine being just pure intelligence. We went through school as the two who were always together, but besides that, we were pretty nondescript.”

“And then there was a science fair.”

Mat wilted as Nate murmured, eyes glued to the ground. He paused before continuing. “They taught us what they teach everyone, how egos were pets and how magical people were like gods -this school was  _ very _ egotistical, the headmaster a earth user- and I wanted to help a big problem that magical people were having at that time. They didn’t know who was an ego unless they used their magic.”

Mark knew that the machine that could sense egos was new in technology standards, but he didn’t think it was that new. A weight settled in his stomach, of what could happen next.

“So.” Mat continued. “For a science fair, I studied and took notes on the only ego in the school that I knew of, the janitor. From what I found and observed, I realized that egos have different auras then others. After much trouble, I made a prototype of the machine used today to discover egos.”

And the weight dropped. He had a feeling, but he wasn’t sure. Mat and Mad were considered genius level, so it couldn’t be to hard for them to do that, but Mark still never suspected.,. And how old was he? Mark was only six or seven when his ego appeared. Was his just early, or had Mat made such a powerful device at that young of an age?

“The day before the fair, I heard a voice in my head, telling me not to show anyone what I made.” Mat shrugged softly. “I thought that it was just anxiety- so I shook it off, even though, looking back, it was probably Mad. The judges tried it out on the janitor and it worked. Then they tried it out in some others. It malfunctioned sometimes, and called out those with magic instead of egos. The judges and officials saw that problem and went to fix it, but firstly, they checked out every kid at the school. It went off even if the magic or the ego hadn’t shown yet, but since there was thought to be no more egos in the school after the earlier checks, Nate and I were written off as magical kids.”

Nate laughed softly, a bitter sort of laugh. “It didn’t last long.”

Mat nodded along with him. “Nate was interested with egos as well, but on the more social side instead of scientific. It’s how it’s always worked with us. He studied egos and partners and hosts all with only the books the library had, the talk he heard, and the janitor, who he befriended.”

“You know, looking back.” Nate interrupted once more. “He would always tilt his head when we passed, always looked sad. He might’ve told me all of that, because he knew.”

“I’ve thought of that as well.” Mat nodded. “Going back, Nate came to me with his suspicions of us being egos during a school break. By this time, the Grand Judgement had already started modifying my prototype, and my name was being spread through the noble quarter. I was sceptical, but it was Nate, and I trusted him. We had a week before having to go back, and we spent the majority of it trying to make our egos show themselves.

“It happened firstly for Nate- he asked my mother for a cookie and she came in with the entire plate and a glass of milk. He thought nothing of it but I had him ask my dad for the deed to the house- and my dad just gave it up like it was nothing. My power appeared only hours later, picking up the cookie my mom had brought us.

“Since we had the powers but our egos hadn’t appeared, we foolishly believed that we’d be fine. We went back to school, and besides the fact that the officials wanted me to work on other things for egos, nothing happened. A few months passed, and our powers were stronger but our egos were still nonexistent.” Mat paused, before smirking. “The janitor had looked at us was a curious fascination after that school break.

“One day, I was working in a spare room, organized specifically for me to use to make new things for the Grand Judgement to use. Nate was with me, when officials entered. It was after school, so no one was really there to stop them. They had perfected my prototype, and with some ‘incentives’ to the janitor, felt obligated to check us specifically again. To the point of it, we were collared on the spot and taken out of school. They didn’t inform the headmaster, the teachers, not even our parents. We just disappeared.

“As I can see your eyebrows scrunching at the fact that our egos hadn’t shown up yet, but we were collared… yes, that wasn’t the best. It’s the reason why we are what we are today, and why Mad and Mare are how they are. The strangest coincidence was, both Mad and Mare fully appeared in our minds just hours after we were collared. We couldn't speak to them, of course, but we could feel the difference.” Mat paused, as if the words got caught in his throat. “I don’t think we would’ve made it… if they had separated us.”

Mark’s never been collared with his partner for a long period of time, but he could guess that it gave some sort of protection against all of the mental problems egos and hosts get from being collared. Mark shivered at the thought- someone being collared before their ego even appeared.

“We spent a few years locked up, until we were around ten. They then took us out and studied our powers and our connection. Back then, partners was a concept known to exist but with no real definition. At the time, our kingdom was at war and they thought that our powers would be good on the front line.”

“They sent ten year olds out onto a battlefield!?!” Mark almost shouted, but that could hurt his own collared throat. He almost didn’t care, because who would ever do something that awful?

Mat nodded, twitching slightly. “Of course, we weren’t prepared. The military group sent with us died, and I got burned at some point around the end. Mare lost it.”

Surprisingly, Nate continued. “Mat passed out, and when I saw it, I was…  _ pushed _ into the back of my head. I couldn’t control my body, but I watched as it told everyone on the opposing side to commit suicide. And they did.” He looked down, and Mark couldn’t tell if he was ashamed… or just… tired. “Ever since, Mare and I would switch back and forth between control while I was collared. It happened almost randomly, but it seems like Mare can somewhat control the switches. We think it was the collar.., being collared before they appeared. It had a side effect.”

“Like how Mad appears when I’m collared.” Mat added on. “The fight broke my collar, and when they put on a new one, they realized that it was my ego in control, instead of me. From what I remember, they did a few experiments to test out my anomaly, but Mad is violent, and hides what he really wants from his actions well. They learned that I was more cooperative without a collar then with.”

“But they couldn’t trust him without one.” Nate added.

“So they starved me.” Mat said. “And because Nate gave me his food, they starved him too. They never separated us, since that ruined our mental states to much and it riled up our egos. They thought that if we were weak, we wouldn’t resist as much, or, our egos wouldn’t resist.”

Mark kept his face straight, but an angry dread was burning inside of him.  _ Starving a child, _ stunting their growth and almost killing them- no wonder they were always eating, why they were always hungry and why they always seemed too skinny. It left a physical and mental permanent mark on them.

“It wasn’t all bad.” Mat commently lightly. “They knew from the beginning that our powers could be very powerful, and they figured out the guidelines pretty early. We had tutors, both academic and athletic. Every other month for a year or so they would almost starve us, but we still learned during it. We had medical checkups, to make sure we weren’t secretly dying or anything, and they gave us toys or puzzles when we were younger. It didn’t get extremely bad until we were fifteen or so.”

They didn’t think starvation was extremely bad? That was worrisome.

“It was the first time they separated us.” Nate explained, and… Mark understood, actually. Ten or so years of only trusting one person, your partner, ten or so years of being collared and starved and  _ going to war _ … “At that time, the collars separated an ego from their host, cutting off most power usage, but not much else. They wanted Mat to make a way to… discourage hosts from using the small amount of power they had left using the collar.”

“Of course, I refused.” Mat said, and the fact that they were all still walking down these dark tunnels and both Nate and Mat were keeping face reincounting these things was more then Mark could ever. He wondered if they had overcome the trauma… or if they had succumbed to it. “And they separated us as punishment. It was the first time they threatened me using him. When they realized that it worked, they did it more and more. I had been uncollared for the most part, since I was still a better option then Mad without powers, and so I took the next opportunity I saw and we escaped.”

“By that time our egos-“ Nate paused. “-And I guess us as well, were already falling off the deep end. We stayed off the radar for a few years, but we also didn’t. They almost caught us with the royal babies scheme, the comatose Grand Judgement scheme, and a few others. It was when we actually killed the Grand Judgement members that they caught us again.”

“They were going to kill us, but we were at war again and our powers were valuable.” Mat shrugged, and his hand was trailing along the wall. “They had finished creating the shock part of the collar that I had started years before. They had me create another device, one to sense ego partners instead of an actual partner, and to show which type of partner it was, how valuable. I was collared, since they had decided that Mad with no powers might be better then me with them, and they separated us again. But this time, they kept us almost a quadrant apart. That lasted for years, until they told me to find a man with multiple egos.”

“And the details are a story for another day.” Nate said. “Since we’re here.”

True, Mark had stopped next to a ladder, which lead up to a rebel owned house. They had bought this house before the underground tunnels were built, it being the point B for the hideout’s point A. In fact, the tunnel ended at the hole.

Mark reached out with the shadows- he could feel a hollow part in the earth if he focused hard enough. The Grand Judgement’s escape route.

This was actually happening.

****

**——X——**

****

“So, Who is Kastor anyway?” Mark asked as he took Nate’s offered hand to help him out of the tunnel. The house was nice and stocked with rations, and usually someone lived here to watch the place, but at the moment it was barren.

Mark wondered why.

“He’s the advisor of the leaders of the Grand Judgement.” Mat answered. “He deals with everything the leaders don’t want to deal with. Basically, he’s the third most powerful person in this kingdom. He usually decides what to do with us next.”

“I already told Zero that the rebellion needs to leave him alone.” Nate said, glancing at Mark as if he expected him to leave the man he wanted to punch alone too. “I want to deal with him.”

Mark knew that those two probably deserved revenge the most, especially after the story he heard, but he’s angry. “Just one little punch?”

Nate barked out a laugh, which Mark counted as a win. Mat opened his backpack, and several rations floated out of the kitchen and into his bag as he lazily moved his hand. Once done, he zipped up his bag, shouldering it. His smile was manic. “Let’s have some fun.”

****

Mark’s never been in the first quarter. He had a dream when he was younger, that the streets were paved with gold and apples rained from the sky. Instead, what he saw was marble sidewalks and buildings, and paved roads. 

He didn’t even know that  _ paved roads existed. He didn’t even know that they were a thing. _

Lanterns hung from each corner, bathing everything in lights. Morning movers went around draped in clothes fit for kings and decked out in jewels. Like, seriously, it was to much to see.

Another thing. It was  _ small. _ Much smaller than he thought it’d be. He could see the walls on each side, even though the Grand Judgement blocked a good chunk of the wall. Only the highest of aristocrats… there weren’t many.

And everyone seemed to know each other, so most people stopped and watched as they passed, whispering to their peers in wonder. They knew.

“Ignore them.” Mat whispered. He had started to pull Mark along by his cuffs with his powers, and he gave them a swift yank to sell it to the outsiders. Nate, as usual, was silent, hands stuffed in pockets. They all stood out, but his two companions didn’t seem to care, so he forced himself not to either.

The house was right next to the Grand Judgement, so they just walked a bit and then they were there. The other two walked to the front of the building like they weren’t being stared out with distaste, and Mark wondered how they did it.

The doors opened almost automatically for them, and Mark barely caught a glimpse of the servants who opened the door scurrying away into hiding spots as to not be seen. Mark could feel them in the shadows. They were as still as a deer caught grazing.

“There you are!”

The servants in the shadows all seemed to shake and shiver, backing up. Mark didn’t like the man already. The owner of the voice appeared moments later, appearing from a half opened door at the top of half a dozen red velvet lined marble stairs. The man was tall and imposing, with scruffy brown hair and large, cold amber eyes. His stature was stern and Mark wanted to trip him as he walked by.

“We’re on schedule, Kastor.” Mat said boredly, but he did a slight emphasis on the man’s name, as if to tell Mark that this was, indeed, Kastor. He flicked his wrist, and Mark’s hands were pulled forward almost roughly by the cuffs. “And this is-“

“The multi ego man.” Kastor nodded, walking down a single step of stairs. He regarded Nate as if he was a rotting animal corpse found out in the woods. “Are you certain?”

Mat hummed an affirmative, which was enough for Kastor. “Good. Where is this collar’s remote?”

Mat took it out of his pocket, flipping it in the air before catching it again. “Right here. I like it, kinda shiny. I’m gonna keep it for awhile.”

Kastor’s passive face gained an ever so slight frown, just a lip twitching downwards. “You are under no authority to have it.” He grounded out. “Do not think I haven’t noticed that neither you nor your whore are wearing your collars, and not to mention that you escaped with your partner instead of just doing your assignment. You are already under a lot of scrutiny, do not raise the punishment any higher.”

Mat snorted, which made Nate look over in silent confusion. That scared Mark, since they were usually pretty in sync with each other. “What else could you do?”

“Less visiting time-“ Kastor spoke with hard authority, but Mat cut him off as if he hadn’t noticed.

“Then I’d stop working and Nate would stop singing and then you’d get nothing from either of us.”

Kastor’s eyes narrowed, if only a fraction. “Pain has worked before on you.”

“That’s when I feared it.” Mat’s eyes were hard and he sounded good, but Mark could see that he was bluffing. What he knew and Nate’s reactions told him that. “I don’t anymore.”

Kastor now looked as deadly as Mad had. “How does your damsel like pain?”

Something broke then. Something no one was expecting to.

“ **_LIKE YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW!_ ** ” Mark couldn’t tell who was speaking, but Mat ( _ Mad- _ ) had erupted into a rage, and his eyes seemed to flicker with some type of light. “ **_DID YOU NOT EXPECT ME TO FIND OUT? DID YOU NOT EXPECT ME TO SEE?! DID YOU THINK OUR EXCELLED HEALING WOULD HIDE YOU FROM ME?_ ** ”

Kastor, if only for a second looked scared. Then he yelled to someone inside. “Call in the detainment unit!”

“ **_OH!_ ** ” Mat laughed. “ **_LIKE THEY’LL BE ANY HELP! YOU-You think that you force me to do everything that you ask? You DONT! I ALLOW it!_ ** ”

This wasn’t going as planned.

Nate seemed to realize this, and grabbed Mark’s handcuffs, yanking them and him away from Mat. The other seemed to not care or realize as Mark and Nate stood a few steps away.

From behind Kastor, several different guards ran from outside of the room, marching quickly down the stairs to intercept Mat. Mat raised an angry eyebrow before scoffing. Raising a hand, he grunted, slowly pushing his hand forward. The guards slowed to a stop, before digging their heels into the ground to stop themselves from being unexplainably pulled backwards. Mat huffed once, before extending his arm all the way. The guards all flew backward, some hitting the walls while others rolled on the floor.

Mat stood straight, smiling and raising his hands in a ‘come at me’ gesture.

“Why was that so hard for him?” Mark murmured, remembering how he wiped the floor with Kev and those back at the base.

“It doesn’t look like it.” Nate said. “But the clothes they’re wearing are all made of a  _ very _ heavy fabric, especially to Mat. They designed the uniforms just for him, when they figured out that he can’t control anything living. Kastor’s wearing something even heavier, which is why Mat hasn’t even tried to do anything to him, it would take too much energy.”

The guards stood up, and two brought out deplorable collars, holding the guns and aiming one at Mat and one at Nate. Mat saw it and frowned, taking both his hands and smashing them together. The guns snapped and crumpled into a mess of metal and wires immediately, catching both of the men’s fingers (as they had been on the triggers). They screamed as their fingers were crushed and detached, falling to the floor in agony.

Nate had at some point decided that Mat had calmed down enough to be near again, and pulled Mark towards him again. The guards circled them then, holding collars and rushing forward.

Mat laughed softly.

****

Almost all of them were knocked out on the floor in five minutes.

Even though Mat had swept the floor with almost all of them, one had snuck up behind him, and was lunging forward. Almost to quickly, the collar clicked around his neck.

And it wasn’t Mat anymore.

Which wasn't good for them, but also not for Mark. Mad played by different rules, he bided his time for different things then Mat. Mat went with the flow while Mad pushed buttons until everything was perfect for him. He needed the Mat that would cooperate.

Good thing Nate was here.

“ **_Unlock the collar._ ** ”

Mark almost didn’t recognize Nate’s voice- it sounded like it did at Siren’s Song, except for the fact that he wasn’t singing and he looked livid. Mark shimmied a bit, instinctively running from the face he was making.

The man, with calm sereneness of hand but fierce panic in face, dug into his pocket and took out the remote. Mat, or Mad, looked at him in giddy amusement and the collar was unlocked.

“ **_Take the collar off._ ** ” The man gingerly took the collar off, and Mark had to dive forward a bit to reach Mat before he unexpectedly collapsed, blinking dazedly. Mark helped him gain his balance as Nate kept on going. “ **_Put the collar on._ ** ”

The man seemed to panic even more, fear flashing in his eyes as his lips moved in a silent plea. He clicked the collar on himself with no fight.

Nate’s- Mare’s eyes shone with a feral sort of pride. “ **_Now put the settings on five and break the remote._ ** ”

The man seemed to become hysterical in his silent pleas, clicking a button on the remote before destroying it on the ground. The man gasped as the collar got tighter, cutting off his airways until it was to much and the man passed out, tongue slowly turning blue.

Mark stared at Mare in shock as he and Mat both turned away from the dying man, ignoring Mark to talk to Kastor again. “You told me to bring them here.” Mat said, still to giddy to be fully Mat. “I never said anything about collaring him.”

“You don’t get a say!” Kastor roared. “You did your mission, now go wait until we have another one for you!”

“I will wait.” Mat said. “But Nate won’t. He’s here to show his face, and nothing more. I’ll stay here until I’m called for again. But it’s stupid to bring me back to Denzil- he knew the rules and broke them by trying to make my cell inescapable.”

“I don’t need something like you telling me this!” Kastor spit, and Mark’s pretty sure he got a good amount of it on his cheek. “And you don’t have a say with what either you or your whore does! It’s all up to me!”

And suddenly Kastor’s hat was covering his eyes. Mat murmured a small ‘Go’ and Mark didn’t have to turn to know that Mare was gone, hidden somewhere in this maze of halls.

Kastor grabbed his hat and yanked it up, looking close to feral. “There will be consequences to this,  _ Matthew _ .”

Mat grinned lazily, stuffing his hands in his pocket. “I can’t wait to see what you’ll think up.” He snarled, “it better be something unique this time.”

He tugged at Mark’s cuffs via powers, pulling him forwards and towards Kastor. They moved up the stairs, passing the high (fuming) aristocrat as Mat opened the doors with a flick of his hand and guided him through.

A long hall filled with doors stood on the other side. Only one was open, inside a few of the clothes that the guards were wearing and several collars. Mat glanced over, and the door slammed shut, almost breaking off it’s hinges.

Mark chose not to comment.

“Once we get in there, you’ll be on your own.” Mat said as they reached the end of the hall, in front of a large wooden door. “I’ll keep the remote with me, but we might have to separate after that.”

Mark didn’t really want to- Mat’s Powers were incredibly useful and strong. Nevertheless, he nodded, tightening his jaw to prepare himself.

Mat turned and opened the door.

****

**——X——**

****

There were only 16 of them there. 

Mark didn’t know much (if anything) about the Grand Judgement, but he didn’t feel like there were 17 in total, including Kastor.

**_There are twenty Grand Judgement members at one time._ ** Google droned.  **_Including the two leaders, the Sky leader and the Ground leader._ **

_ You knew about this? _ Mark asked, slightly annoyed.  _ Why didn’t you- nevermind. Tell me more. _

**_The Judgement leaders have a few requirements to be elected into position. They must be educated in certain military, political, and economic classes, and must be of a certain nobility status. The Sky leader must have an affinity to either air magic or water magic, while the Ground leader must have an affinity to fire or earth magic._ ** Google’s voice gained a bit of a happy note, as if excited to show his knowledge.  **_Also included into the twenty members are the heirs, the Sky heir and Ground heir are a part of the Judgement, meaning that only one of our targets isn’t here today._ **

**_You have a walking, talking, mental encyclopedia in your head._ ** Dark murmured.  **_And you never use him. He knows things about the world that no one else knows, and he collects mind dust in here._ **

Mark ignored the fact that Dark had basically just called him a big dumb in Dark language. He’s been called worse by the ego.

**_Like that other ego fellow._ ** Wilford joined in.  **_Mad, if I remember. Why, we had a nice chat yesterday, all of us and that Mare fellow too- Google and him hit it off, they had a loooong chat on the way here._ **

**_They went on and on and on about magic and egos and forbidden knowledge._ ** Dr. Iplier joined in.  **_They just would not stop, I’m sorry to say that I’m dying!_ **

_ It’s cool that you can communicate and you all are making- _ Mark paused.  _ Wait, what- _

He had been tuning out whatever Mat and the members of the Judgement had been saying, but now there were guards grabbing his arms. He forced himself to not use his powers, letting them drag him away from Mat and towards the middle of the room.

The room looked like a throne room for royalty, but with a large long table with several chairs around it in the middle. At the head of the table, instead of a usaully one chair, there was two. One chair had a light bright blue banner sticking up from it, showing what looked like a flying azure dragon. The other chair had a crimson sitting dragon on it’s banner.

A man sat in the blue banner chair. He was blonde, with pale skin and dark blue eyes, wrapped in the most expensive white robes Mark’s ever seen. He guessed that that was the Sky leader. The Ground leader, though, was a stark contrast to him. She had dark brown, slightly reddish hair, put in a ponytail with curly strands falling out from the front. Her tan skin made her  _ crimson _ ( _ wow. _ Mark thought.  _ They picked her because it works well, didn’t they? That’s totally what they did- _ ) eyes flash. She wore a crimson clothes, a long sleeved shirt and pants with a showing midriff. While the man looked like a king, the female looked like a queen who decided to join the royal guard.

**_I’m into it._ ** Wilford mentally shrugged.

**_Wil,_ ** Dark started.  **_Shut up._ **

Mark ignored them, opting to glare at the two instead of speak.

“He doesn’t look like much.” The woman said with a scoff, examining him without getting up.

“Get that all the time.” Mark mumbled. “Never believe me.”

“Quiet!” The man said. “No one gave you permission to speak, here.”

Mark flashed him an incredulous look. Just because he was  _ pretending  _ to be weak and collared, didn’t mean he was going to act like it. “Does it look like I really care about what you want?”

His eyes flashed. “We are the rulers of this kingdom-“ he snarled. “-and It’d do you good to remember that.”

“Go walk around the peasant's quarter and then come back to me on that.” Mark bit out. “What great rulers you lot are, have you ever even seen the world outside of your quarter? You know, where seventy-five percent of your subjects live?”

“They are inconsequential.” The lady spoke. “They are the wood that burns the fire that forges great men. They are here to be useful.”

Mark narrowed his eyes. “I bet at least half of you have normal family members.” There was some twitching, which confirmed it for him. “I bet at least one of you has a family member that’s an ego, or you knew a childhood friend with one. You either lied to yourself, told yourself that kicking them aside was the right thing, but I bet most of you are just hiding the fact that they don’t have magic from your peers. You don’t believe in what you're preaching.”

The lady narrowed her eyes. “Silent, ego. This is not your place.” She looked up. “Now that he has been found, we must decide.”

“Shall he go with Kastor,” the man said, “and become part of the operatives? Will he stay here, as the whole Judgement’s servent? Or will he be sent to our friends north?”

He didn’t know what was north and that was terrifying.

**_It is rumored that ego experimentation goes on in the kingdom north of us._ ** Google supplied.

That made it ten times worse.

“I vote option D.” Mark intervened. “Where you all decide that you’re all a bunch of dickwads and change your ways and abolish servitude and slavery in our kingdom.”

The woman was now sufficiently done with Mark. “Mad.” She snapped. “Give me the remote. This ego needs to be punished.”

Mat pretended like he didn’t hear.

The woman repeated herself, and that’s when Kastor strolls in, late for the party. “Matthew is acting… defective, right now.” He growled. “He took out the entire detainment unit.”

The Judgement all looked at him. Mat shrugged. “It’s shiny, I wanna keep it for a bit.” He looked indifferent. “If he hadn't tried to take it, then half of the unit wouldn’t be dead right now.”

Both leaders of the Grand Judgement looked thoroughly miffed at being played in their own home, and Mark thought that the girl was about to get up.

But then a servant scurried in. “M’Lord!”

Kastor, the lady and the man all turned towards the calling, speaking in unison. “What?”

The servant stopped, as if not knowing who to speak to. “Another v-visitor Ha-has just arrived-“

The doors flew open again, and this time a man Mark wasn’t expecting to see but still pretty happy to strolled in. “You should’ve told me about your find.” He said. “I would’ve made a bid on it.”

The man gritted his teeth, but spoke politely. “This discussion is not open for the public-“

“-as if the public knows anything about you and me.” Jack grinned up at the man, walking up to the table and leaning on it. He fixed Mark with a stare that would’ve intimidated him if he wasn’t wiggling his eyebrows. “Doesn’t look like much.”

“I swear.” Mark mumbled. “ _ Everyone. _ Why does no one believe me?”

“Shut up!” Jack snapped, before a smug smile hit his lips. “The grownups are talking.”

“Oh har!” Mark frowned. “Aren’t I older then you?”

Jack frowned as well, but mirth swam through his eyes for a flash of a second. He turned to the others. “You let him speak his mind?”

“Matthew has kept the remote from us.” Kastor said in a placid but furious way. “He is… protecting… this man.” Apparently he had enough brain cells to figure  _ that _ out.

“Really?” Jack spun around, glancing at said ego. “You're just having disobedience problems today, aren’t you? Well-“ he moved towards Mat, holding out a hand. “I’ll take that, if you don’t mind.”

Mat tilted his head, as if listening to something. After a moment, he smiled, digging it out of his pocket. He dropped it into the open hand. “My pleasure.”

Mark hid his own smile.  _ Dr. Iplier, you’re up. _

The doctor chuckled as Jack twirled the remote in his hands, smiling as well. “What was all the fuss about earlier?”

**_I’ve cooked up a new one._** The doctor murmured in a manic high. **_I feel my partner, and he’s giving me strength._**

Mark could actually feel the strength he was getting as well, power starting in his stomach before spreading and concentrating in his hands. Both Mat and Jack glanced at him, like they could see the power as well, but neither said anything.

Outside the room, some sort of ruckus started, dragging the attention away from them.

Mark clapped his hands together, before spreading them out wide, releasing his magic.

The effect was almost instant.

The doctor’s powers had simple guidelines. The more people you effect, the less potent the sickness. The less people, the more potent. When he’s by his partner, though, apparently it’s  _ much _ more potent, no matter how many people. But it doesn’t last as long.

Knowing that, it wasn’t as surprising to see what happened next.

Blood splattered on the ground as half of the judgement including Kastor started retching, vomiting up almost only blood. Hands clenched their stomachs as several flew off their chairs, hitting the table or floor and landing in their own blood, alive but definitely incapacitated. The other half of the Judgement, including both leaders clawed at their eyes, sneezing and breaking out in hives. They were all crying blood.

_ What… _ Mark asked, horrified but still slightly satisfied.  _ What did you do? _

**I** **_showed off_ ** **.** Dr. Iplier said happily.  **_My partner’s watching, I gotta show him what I got._ **

Ignoring the fact that the Doctor was acting like a high school girl, Mark glanced at Jack and Mat to make sure that they were okay.

It was the first time he’s ever seen clear surprise on Mat’s face. “Wow.” He spoke. “That’s actually… terrifying.”

He didn’t look scared in the slightest, but something wary flashed across his eyes. Jack, on the other hand, had a small tilted smile on his face, eyes distant, like he was talking to his own egos.

The vomiting and blood tears suddenly stopped, and severely weakened, the Judgement all stood up.

“Well.” Mark said, grabbing his collar with one hand. Calling on some extra strength, he crushed one side of the collar and pulled it off. And, just for some extra kicks later, he made sure his eyes glowed red. “I guess the gig’s over.”

The door crashed open, and after the dust settled, Mark could easily see Kev’s wide grin and Zero’s cold eyes.

********  
  


The female leader roared in anger, swiping the blood from her eyes and jumping up. A dagger appeared from her sleeve, and a block of earth jutted out from below her, propelling her over the table and right into Mark.

Mat flicked his hand and the girl jerked to the side, away from Mark and towards a wall. The male Judgement leader wiped his eyes on his sleeve, looking more peeved then outright rageful. He lifted an arm, and the women stopped in midair. She started jerking back and forth as the air around her shifted and swirled, being controlled by the man as he countered Mat’s magic.

Mat frowned, raising his hand to finish it when he had to move to the side, a flaming sword where he was before. As he dealt with Kastor, the male leader swiped his hand in the air, causing the lady to shoot towards Mark once again, even faster than before.

Mark rolled to the side to move out of the way. Around him, the others were fighting, one member to usually one or two rebels. Everyone was busy, and that left Mark to deal with both leaders, the two most powerful magic users in the kingdom.

Wilford chuckled.  **_As if he would leave you alone._ **

Mark didn’t need or have time to ask, since suddenly Jack was next to him, grabbing the lady’s wrist as she was about to cut him in half. His face was stoic and his eyes were solid green as he looked blankly at the lady, as if wondering why she even bothered.

Mark realized two things right then.

He had forgotten that Jack was a broken man.

And he now knew that Jack could switch into more then two different settings.

Jack’s hand closed around her wrist, crushing it as he turned it, causing her to gasp as her hand couldn’t hold the dagger anymore. Her eyes burned in fury, and she twisted, kicking him in the side of the head. In the same move, she planted a hand on the ground, forming a dagger of earth and stabbing upward.

Jack watched it come with no worry.

It went right through his chest.

In a poof of dark greyish purple smoke, Jack disappeared. Mark could see where he went, actually fighting the male Judgement leader. He ignored the fact that he was actually scared for a moment, turning back to the lady, who seemed to realize what happened at the same time. They locked eyes, and she charged again.

Mark created a few pink bullets, shooting them forward straight towards her. The lady stopped, dropping to the floor and rolling forward to miss them. One the way, she picked up her dagger, now duel wielding as she slashed downward.

A shadow appeared in front of her, and she only had time to widen her eyes as the shadow took both her weapons, and one of her hands in it’s endless abyss.

She screamed.

The room was sufficiently loud with battle, but the male leader still heard, and his mostly peeved but still calm face turned into something of unbridled fury. He moved forward, but Jack was still taking his attention. The lady covered her stump of a hand with her arm, covering it to try and stop the flow of blood. It seemed, though, that the adrenaline was enough to let her make another earth dagger.

She was still, surprisingly, a good fighter. She still suffered from his sickness, and she lost a hand, but she was good.

Mark summoned a shadow, releasing the dagger he had just gained and grabbing it, using it to deflect the lady’s own attack. Her eyes narrowed at the weapon, and she backed up. Planting her feet, she raised her good hand. Two pillars of rock snaked up from the ground, coiling up before darting forward, tips sharpening into something deadly.

Mark yelped, jumping out of the way. The rocks slammed into the wall behind him, crumbling to the ground.

The fight around him was getting quieter. Rebels lay dead on the floor, but more Judgement members were dead then rebels. They were winning. With an advantage, due to the sickness, sure, but they were still winning.

More pillars of rocks flew towards him, and he dropped to the ground, surrounding himself with a shadow to absorb anything close enough to him. He stayed there for a moment before rolling over a few feet, releasing the shadows. Holding his dagger, he started siphoning a new sickness into the blade, running forward and going down with the dagger, going for a wide arc. She backed up, avoiding it. Her leg darted out and caught his foot, and he allowed her to sweep him to the ground. He pretended to be hurt, slowly trying to get up. The lady took the bait, jumping forward to end it.

As she came close enough, Mark stabbed the dagger into her foot. She snarled, but it was done. Mark could feel the sickness leaving the dagger and entering her. She swayed as it took hold, and tears of blood surface in her eyes again.

And from her mouth. And ears.

She collapsed.

_ Doctor. _ Mark stood up, staring at the close to dead Judgement leader.  _ How are you able to… _

**_Kill someone?_** Dr. Iplier asked. **_Make a deadly sickness? Well, it’s not fatal, but she was already low on blood, so, yes, it’s very fatal to_** **her** ** _._** He sounded pleased. **_My partner is here, he must see me at my best._**

A roar of rage sounded from the other side of the room.

Mark looked up. Jack had been handling the other leader, free of scratches or bruises. But now the man looked beyond pissed, eyes on the lady Mark had just basically killed.

Mark looked around. He was the last one left.

Those still left started to surround him. Mark was glad to see that his entire group was okay, but team Delta was down to only two. Mark could see Kev on the ground by a wall, and he couldn’t tell if he was still alive. Zero stood away from it all, watching.

“You.” The leader snarled at Mark. “You’ve ruined the Judgement.” His arms started to rise. “You must pay.”

The air in front of him formed into a ball. Nothing happened.

Mark looked on, confused, when he felt something latch onto his ankle. He yelped as it pulled him back and flung him at a wall. He could barely see Wade and one of the team Delta members stretch out their hands. The air around the wall grew more solid, and cushioned air slowed the throw as he harmlessly thumped against the wall and fell.

Around the leader of the Judgement was a huge serpent made of water. It wrapped around the man’s body, snapping at anyone who tried to get closer. In the air around him, something akin to a falcon made of air circled around.

Mark stared at the man with two Magics in shock.

“Now you can see-“ the man wiped away the last of the blood around his eyes, taking the last traces of sickness with it. “-why I am a leader of the Grand Judgement.”

****

**——X——**

****

Ethan stepped forward, smiling in a not-Ethan-like way. He had started to giggle. “You’re funny.”

The man frowned, anger marring his features. “What?”

“We’ll deal with him.” Ethan said easily. “Tyler, would you start us off?”

Tyler stared at the man and nodded. Suddenly, the man’s face went dull, anger wiping off his face like nothing was wrong. “s-Stop that.” He slurred, whipping the water towards Tyler. But it was slower than usual, and he dodged it easily.

Ethan, however, took over, spreading is hands out wide before pressing them together, pointing them in his general direction. The man gasped, stumbling as a wide happy slime appeared on his face. He started crying at the same time, then fear blanketed his face and he stumbled over himself to back up. A sleepy smile grew over his face, and his eyes fell closed. After a moment, the tiredness turned into queasiness, then he looked nauseous, and then he threw up right next to him.

Jack appeared to his side. “Why haven’t they done this before?”

Mark looked at both of his friends, head tilted in confusion as well. **_It might take a lot of power for them to do this._** Dark suggested.

**_Or maybe,_ ** Wilford joined in.  **_They don’t like doing it at all._ **

The man created a circle of water around him before thrusting it out all around the room, making it faster by his air. Mark was surprised that he could even focus on his goal with what was happening.

Wade jumped in front of Mark and Jack, drilling his hands forward and wedging a path through the water, keeping them from getting hit. Bob did the same for Tyler and Ethan, but with rock instead. It hit one surprised member of team Delta, knocking them down, but the other managed to block it.

The man stopped his attack, and started giggling.

“I can feel it.” Ethan said, turning to his partner. “Your turn.”

Tyler looked around, before darting forward, ducking under the next small pathetic attack he threw and grabbing him around the head. Everything froze for a moment. Then, the man’s eyes closed and he crumpled to the ground.

Mark said seen Tyler do that before, so he knows the man isn’t dead. Comatose, probably, but still alive. Mark was confused on what happened before, since he’s never seen Ethan use his powers like that before. He didn’t know if it was necessary.

Tyler took a step back, and nudged the man with his toes. “Yeah… he’s not waking back up, anytime soon.”

****

The room was a wreck, the table broken and chairs strewn about. Blood was mixed with an inch or two of water on the ground, and bodies laid every which way.

“That guy used that much water?” Bob murmured as everyone looked around. Jack was walking around, moving over towards each downed rebel, healing those still alive and only injured. Lena had been healed, and she had been settled next to the somewhat healed Kev. They were both still out. Mat had disappeared, as had Kastor. Something about that made him shiver.

“He didn’t.”

They looked up towards the voice. Zero had his head tilted at the water, but there was a smile on his face, as if excited for their win. He stood in the doorway, out of the water, holding a thick cord in his hand. “Do you want to see something interesting?”

“Is now really the time?” Mark said, only slightly paying attention. Something was making him paranoid, and he couldn’t tell what it was.

“Yes, it is.” Zero nodded, something swimming through his eyes. “This cord has to deal with electricity, you know? Well, I found out something else electricity can do. Watch.”

He dropped the end of the cut open cord into the water.

Pain racked through Mark’s body. He barely had time to gasp before he fell, his body already tired from before.

Unconscious took over quickly after.


	8. Chapter 8: Hosts

When Mark woke up the world was spinning.

He shut his eyes with a groan, pushing away the headache forming. His egos were uncharacteristically silent as he tried to figure out what was happening.

He realized a few moments later that his egos weren’t silent. They were _gone._

He jerked upright, hands reaching for a collar he knew was there and hoped that wasn’t. His fingers gripped the harsh metal as he frantically tried to get the collar off.

“Question. Do you lose all of their voices, or only one?”

Mark stilled, looking up to see Zero at a large database, fiddling with it. He wasn’t looking at Mark, but he knew he was up. Mark didn’t answer though, still panicked because _he couldn’t even hear Dark_ and they were all gone-

“It must be hard.” Zero continued, and his voice, like it or not, calmed Mark slightly. Enough to make him think. “Losing one ego is hard, harder than anyone can understand. Like losing the ability to walk. I wonder how losing multiple of them would feel like…”

“Shut up!” Mark’s head jerked to see Wade. His hands were tied away from his body, as were his legs, to ensure that he’d have a hard time using his magic. Bob was tied up in the same way a bit away from him. Next to them, Ethan and Tyler and Jack and himself. They all had collars, and cuffs on their feet attached to chains in the ground. Mark looked at himself, unsurprised to see the same setup. He couldn’t move more than a few feet in every direction. “Don’t you dare talk to him!”

Wade was seething, as was Bob, as if they understood, or they’ve seen before, the trauma a host and ego goes through when collared. Mark’s panic probably wasn’t helping them calm down.

Neither was Jack’s.

Tyler and Ethan stood up, calm and angry, but Jack was in the same position as him, trying to manually pull the collar away from his neck. His eyes were wide and glazed in panic, as if he was remembering something horrific. He probably was.

Zero Ignored Wade, padding up to him and Jack, watching them closely. “It seems that it is more painful on a multiego’d host.” He hummed in thought. “Interesting. It’s already so hard for a single ego host.” He looked at Mark. “I wonder how long it would take you to lose your sanity to a collar. I’d like to test you both, but it seems as if the Septic man already has lost his.”

Wade was throwing curses his way, but it was Ethan who spoke next. “What are you doing?” He asked softly, but his voice was loud and it echo’d. “What do you hope to accomplish by doing this?”

He paused, turning towards him. “Blank was always an interesting case.” He murmured, as if Ethan wasn’t there. “He was second interest only to Mad for me. Well, before these two appeared. Even so, I can feel Blank’s power through his host’s words, collared as he is.”

“You never answered his question.” Bob said, sternly, and when did he ever use that kind of tone? “Why are you so interested in egos?”

Zero sighed. “Must you know? It won’t better help the results.”

“And what are the results?” Bob clicked his jaw, starting to glare. His and Wade’s fury was a brutal contrast to Zero’s calm curiosity and the hosts’ blatant fear.

Zero’s facade finally fell, and he glared. “I want my host back.” Zero said. “And I will get him back, no matter how many other egos I have to go through to find him.”

  


“Get your host- you’re an ego?” Jack had calmed down, enough to be part of the conversation. “Impossible.”

“Says the man who has the impossible.” Zero spat. “My host was lost to me when he was still a child. He had been collared even before I showed up, and by the time it was removed, he had disappeared, leaving me in charge of this body.”

That story sounded shockingly similar to another Mark had just heard of…

Mat and Nate’s. They said they were collared before their egos showed… but they survived because they were partners. Is that what would’ve happened if they weren’t together that whole time? Mad and Mare do take control over their hosts more than anyone he’s ever seen, even Blank.

“And you want to bring him back.” Mark clarified, flabbergasted but curious at the same time. “Then why are you going after other egos?”

“I’ve done everything I thought of, to get him back.” Zero’s face fell, and for a second, he looked like a victim. “Nothing worked. But one day, I came in contact with another ego. And, for a second, we connected. When we did, I felt my host. My host was brought back by my partner’s powers.”

It was silent for a moment, before Ethan asked the question everyone was thinking. “Where is your partner now?”

Zero waved his hand. “Dead in a stream somewhere. No matter, he didn’t have enough power to bring my host back to me. He was useless afterwards.”

For the first time, Tyler spoke, a rage Mark’s never seen fresh and raw in his eyes. “You killed your partner?!” He hissed. “You ruined something so important and precious-“

“It _doesn’t matter!_ ” Zero roared. “ **_Because Nothing is more important then MY HOST!_ **” He screamed, panting. After a moment, he calmed. “I would tell you to ask your own egos, their partner or their host, but you won’t be able to talk to them ever again.”

Mark’s anger rose at the threat. “ _Stay the fuck away from them!_ ”

Zero paused, then laughed. “Oh, that is actually very interesting.” He slid forward, right into Mark’s personal space. Mark stumbled backwards, but Zero grabbed his collar, pulling them almost nose to nose. “You know, your eyes flash red when you get to irritated. I can see it, even though you have on a collar. Strange.”

Zero released his collar, pushing him back as he moved away. The chains on his feet made Mark trip as he tried to gain his balance, causing him to crash to the floor.

“If it means anything.” Zero started up. “I  _ am _ sorry it had to come to this. I’ve been trying to make this work before I knew about you, but I've gotten nothing accomplished. This is my last solution.”

Mark was actually slightly curious. Like, what would he do? What could he do? Maybe if Mark helped him willingly, he’d let the others go and come to his solution in a  _ peaceful _ fashion.

**_He wouldn’t of done this to begin with if there was a peaceful way._ **

The voice was faint, and he couldn’t tell which ego it was, but it soothed him immensely.

“Wait.” Bob said after a moment. “This is your final solution? Going to multi ego’d people? Have you’ve been testing on regular egos? Who?!”

The thought hadn’t occurred to Mark, but now that it had he was furious. How dare he pretend to be making a rebellion to save them if he’s been hurting them all along too? And he’s an ego himself!

“Oh.” Zero waved the question away as if it was a gnat. “I go to the safehouses every now and then and pick someone who catches my interest. It’s actually very easy, I just say I transfer them to another safehouse and because I’m me I don’t get questioned.”

Silence. The implications of what he meant hadn’t sunk in in Mark’s crowded mind.

“So this entire rebellion.” Mark spat, anger weeping through every pore of his body. “This entire freedom fight for egos.” His hands gripped at his collar. “Was all a lie? All those egos we’ve saved… you’ve been  **_killing them all?_ ** ”

His voice distorted slightly, but he was too upset to care. He could see the others look at him, surprised, but Zero tilted his head in interest before laughing.

“I haven’t killed any of them. Yes, they are used in my experiments, but they are all left living at the end of them.” He shrugged, like he wasn’t talking about living beings here. “Some of them lose their egos, but most of them end up okay.”

An image of Felix flashed into his head. If he had gone out to a safe house like most egos they saved do, what would’ve happened to Flare? He growled, anger oozing off of him. He was collared… any emotion caps wouldn’t be working.

“I haven’t been able to take them for myself yet, though.” Zero said. “I thought it was because only one body can host one ego, but you.” He eyed Mark. “And you.” His gaze shifted to Jack, and Mark regretted ever getting him involved. “Show me the opposite. It’s not the host, but the ego. Your egos… they have what I need, the power I need. And my powers-” he held up his hands. “-are perfect for helping me get it.”

“To bring back your host?” Jack asked, and he looked put together and falling at the seams simultaneously. His neck was red as he scratched at it, and Mark could see trickles of blood seeping into his collar. His face was red and white, flushed and pale. But his expression was deadly. “He’s been gone for a long time, Zero. It’s too late.” Jack paused, as if Zero’s words finally set in his mind. “And stay  _ away  _ from my egos.”

His voice seemed to tilted for a moment, but his egos were under lock and key. Mark wrinkled his nose, shifting his feet in their prison. He stopped quickly, though. He didn’t want to fall and show his back. Be more vulnerable then he already was.

“Your plan sucks.” Wade spoke up from his spot, and Mark wished he kept his mouth shut. “In all of history, there has never been an ego whose power effects specifically an ego’s. Multi egos might be possible, but that power is impossible.”

“I’ve come this far.” Zero snarled. “You think little words will change my mind so quickly?”

“I was hoping that you’d come closer so I could bash the sense into ya.” Wade snarked. “But if words work, then they work.”

Mark prayed that the man would shut up.

Zero narrowed his eyes, taking long strides forward into Wade’s space. “You’ve always annoyed me. A useless magic user.” He murmured, before grabbing Wade by the neck, hand glowing.

Wade looked confused, before his face pinched up, and he  _ screamed _ .

“Stop!” Mark yelled as his friend continued to yell in pain, spasming as Zero continued his assault. “ **_Stop!_ ** ” His voice distorted, and he could see a trace of a blue and red line, but Zero pained no attention. Wade was twitching now, voice a mere pant as his skin took on a grey tinge, eyes dulling. He was killing him. “Stop  _ please _ !”

He thinks the others were yelling too, but all he could hear was his own voice and all he could see was Wade. One of his best friends. He looked like a corpse. He was becoming a corpse, and Mark was watching it happen he couldn’t do anything he was watching but it was all to much and he couldn’t move just let him  _ move _ let him  _ help _ let him  **_go-_ **

Zero yelled as a line of earth protruded from the ground, severing his connection. Wade slumped, breathing scarce. He was unconscious.

“I can’t believe I spent my entire life at this place.” A feminine voice started, and it sounded familiar. “I’m disappointed.”

The locked door took one soft knock, before being crunched in half. It floated for a moment, before being crumpled into an earthy ball and ramming into the opposite wall.

Azalia hobbled in, demeanor calm besides the fire engulfing her figure. When she looked up, her eyes themselves showed flames.

“What are you-“ Zero started, but was knocked off his feet by a plume of fire.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Azalia snarled, and damn, she was angry. “I can’t believe you… I can’t believe-” She paused, looking down. She sighed, before growling. When she looked up, her eyes literally glowed. She didn’t look like an elderly woman, she looked like a war goddess. “Mark my words. I’m going to get these boys out here.” She narrowed her eyes. “Or I’ll die trying!”

“Then it’s been nice knowing you.”

  
  


It was like watching the egos fight in the ring, but with a whole new set of skills. Mark didn’t know Zero’s true power, but he knows he can take energy from magical people. And, from what he’s seen just at the beginning of this fight, he can use this energy for himself.

Azalia, on the other hand, has the power of fire and earth behind her. She looks to be the obvious winner of the battle before it even started.

But then Zero’s true power appeared.

They watched in horrid wonder as he surrounded himself with the four magic elements, turning them into spikes and drilling them forward. Azalia twitched, stomping the ground. A pillar of rock jutted out in front of her, blocking all of the spikes. She twisted, snapping her hand out and punching the ground. 

The rocks underneath her shifted, cracking and popping in a line straight towards Zero. When they reached, the ground opened up, and a blast of fire went straight for him. He raised his hands, and a blast of air redirected the fire upwards.

“I don’t know how it is for an ego to lose their host.” Azalia said, raising her hands before pushing them forward. Several chunks of rocks left the ground, leaving decent sized craters. She snapped her fingers, creating a spark that put flames on all of the rocks. “But I do know how it feels to lose someone close to you! Do you think this is what Jamie wants? If you ever bring him back he’ll be horrified! He’ll be in more pain now then he ever was then!”

“Don’t act like you know!” Zero screeched. The flaming chunks of rocks were blown off their paths, and Mark had to duck out of the way of one. “You don’t know the feeling of being collared! Of being empty!”

“Yet you make others go through that pain too!” Azalia gestured to them, before putting up her hands. A whip of water shot towards her, covering her face. It sizzled for a moment, before evaporating into vapor. The next time she spoke, fore flew from her mouth. “All for a host who was obviously too tired to go on! Don’t disrespect his memory, let him Rest In Peace!”

Zero didn’t attack, instead stopping for a moment before smirking. “What?” He taunted. “Is this hitting too close to home for you? Poor Cole, so young and naive. Or was that his mother? You thought you could marry an ego and have a regular child? Pity, you lost them both.”

He erupted into flames. For a moment, he burned, before he pushed them away. His skin was red, and it was Azalia’s turn to smirk. “I commend you for trying so hard.” She said. “But your host is gone, and taking other people's egos wont give him back.”

Now they were both enraged, and the battle started back up in full force. 

Neither of them could land a solid, fatal or debilitating hit. This went on for what seemed like ages, but must’ve only been minutes. Dust from the rocks was pushed up into the air, making it impossible to see what happened.

There was a sharp, slick sound, and the fighting stopped.

The dust settled and everyone caught their breath. Both opponents were still standing, but Azalia…

Azalia had caught a long sharp piece of rock right in the middle of her stomach.

  
  
  
  
  


Suddenly, she laughed.

“You think I’m going to cry about dying?!” Azalia cackled, surprising  _ everyone _ . “I’ve been waiting for this moment for 53 years! Cole, my baby, I’m coming! Just give me a moment!” She looked down from the ceiling, staring at Zero. “Someone needs to be taught the rules every little kid needs to know.”

She stomped on the ground, earth piece still in her body as a chunk of earth raised from the ground, floating. “One!” She hissed, her breath sparking into fire as it surrounded the earth. “Don’t disrespect-“ She held her ground, punching the fire earth forward into Zero. “-your elders!”

Zero seemed as shocked as everyone else. He stared confusingly at the piece of earth, watching it come closer and closer before finally realizing what was happening. He made a tiny noise, before setting into motion, pushing himself out of the way. He didn’t clear it, though, and his arms instinctively came out to push it away. It slammed into the wall left of Zero, and Mark watched as Zero hissed, holding up a burnt hand.

“Die already, Miss Azalia.” Zero growled. “Your time-“ he set himself, water circling around him. “-has passed!”

The water snaked around him, before shooting towards Azalia, sharpening into ice. The elder grinned, blood dripping from her lips as she held a hand out. “Two!” She yelled, and the water hit her palm. In almost to quick of a move for Mark to see, the water evaporated with a high hiss. “Never lie!”

She stomped her feet, setting herself before punching forward, fire erupting from her fist. It was larger than most magical blasts Mark has ever seen, great and billowing. It looked like it would swallow the entire room, Azalia included, but the lady only laughed. Blood droplets littered the ground around her, but she didn’t notice.

Mark thought she could survive this.

Zero dropped to the ground, the fire licking his hair before he pushed his hands up, causing the fire to blow upwards with the force of air he exerted. He got up in a crouch, before kicking out, a fine line of air rushing towards her. If she tripped and fell, she’d cause the piece of earth to dig in deeper.

“Three!” Azalia set her hands close to the ground, before jerking them up. A slab of earth jutted from the ground, blocking the air. Azalia paused, breathing deeply, before coughing. Mark’s heart clenched when he saw the blood spitting from her mouth with each cough. Something fragile, oh so fragile, was threatening to break inside him.

He later realized that that was the ever so weak string that would break if his own mother died.

Azalia wiped her mouth, glaring at Zero. “Oh, how I wish I could be the one to put you under the ground.” She spat, and it sounded so unlike the Azalia Mark knew, but Mark was still terrified. She paused, looking over who Zero held captive. Her eyes caught Mark, and she smiled, a special little smile that held so much more in it. Mark felt tears leave his eyes. “Rule three.” She repeated. “Treat others with kindness!”

She knelt, before taking her fist and slamming it into the ground. It gave away around her, and a shockwave of earth ripples like a wave around her. It hit everything, and Zero had to do several things to dodge it. While he was distracted, Azalia set her feet again, brow furrowed in complete concentration. She brought her hands in, before pushing out towards them.

The wall behind Mark caved in, creating a whole new room. Mark didn’t have time to be amazed (she did that all on her own in a few seconds while injured-) since she wasn’t done. A great wall of earth erupted between them and the fighting, completely blocking their view.

Protecting them.

The shockwave broke the cuffs on Mark’s legs, and he scrambled up to the wall, keeping the last look of Azalia he had fresh in his mind.

She was tired, blood dripping from her lips and face pale. But she looked determined, eyes holding a sharp fierceness and mouth set in a proud line. She was smiling at him, a soft kind of smile that reminded Mark of his mother. Mark could see a single tear track on her face.

She looked so proud, like she was proud of  _ him _ .

Then she was gone.

It was quiet. So, so quiet. Mark didn’t dare talk. Zero knew where they were, but this wall was at least five feet thick. It take him a moment to get through.

He thought the wall made the other room soundproof, but he was proven wrong when a voice echoed from the other room.

“Good riddance.”

Good riddance.

_ Good riddance. _

**_Good riddance._ **

It was Zero. He knew what it meant. Zero was alive. Azalia had passed on.

And Zero  _ had the nerve to insult her corpse like that. _

_ This rebellion only  _ **_survived_ ** _ because of  _ **_her_ ** _ and he had the  _ **_NERVE-_ **

That little fragile thread inside of him snapped, harsh and cold.

And for the first real time, Mark lost it.

  
  


**——X——**

  
  


Mark had screamed, he knows that. He had screamed and his voice had pitched and glitched and taken on a buzzing ring. His hands had grabbed onto his collar as he yelled, and in one fluid motion, the collar cracked and broke under his force.

**_And his shell broke._ **

He had been kneeling at some point, so he stood up. Two duplicates of him, one red and one blue, replicated his moves a few moments after he did them. The blue one glitched back and forth, going between crying and choking itself. The red one had it’s arms crossed, but glitched around sporadically, yelling into the sky every now and then.

Something told Mark that this was Dark.

There was a pink version of him as well, still mostly with him unless it glitched outside of his body. It always appeared with what Mark thought was a gun in his hand, pointing it at everyone and no one. Wilford.

There was another as well, blue but barely noticeable, more of an afterimage. Mark moved his arm, and the afterimage followed after him, visible for only a moment before merging back. Beyond that, another, slower, black afterimage. Google and the Doctor.

He looked up, and he knew his eyes were red. His skin was pale, almost grey, but he felt strong and powerful and  _ angry _ .

He took one stride over to Jack, breaking the collar easily. He distantly felt his egos bond, but he didn’t care. They didn’t either. As the collar fell, Jack’s entire body flashed green, if only for a moment. It glitched, in a different way then he did- like a database would glitch. It only lasted for a few moments, but it was visible and it was clear that his egos were upset.

Mark helped him up, before waving his hand. Two pink bullets of light appeared and shot out, hitting Tyler’s and Ethan’s collars, shattering them easily. They went to get Bob out of his chains as Jack ran to Wade, hands glowing slightly with power.

Mark turned around, waiting and ready for Zero to come through that wall. His duplicates flashed around him, a flurry of movements. Wilford’s imagine, though, stood still as a statue, gun pointed steadily at a certain spot at the wall. Mark took the silent gesture, creating several pink bullets and waiting.

He was going to kill this motherfucker of an ego.

 

Seconds passed. People were moving behind him, but he stayed still, staring at that spot in the wall that Wilford seemed transfixed with. The blue and red version of him phased about, almost like a wall all in it’s own. The egos in his head were silent, but they were there and their anger was loud and clear.

The movement behind him stopped for a moment when a bang sounded directly where Wilford was pointing his gun. Mark narrowed his eyes, clenching his fist tighter and tighter. The bullets in front of him jumped forward, before being pulled back, as if dogs excited for the hunt.

A hole emerged in the rock, and Mark didn’t wait, releasing his bullets. They flew almost faster then he could see, and he heard a scream of agony from the other side.

He was hoping that would be the end of it, but he knew it wouldn’t be so easy. His warning was in Wilford crossing his arms in an x gesture, like a shield. He had only a moment afterwards before a rock jutted out from the ground, rising and charging towards him.

He narrowed his eyes, cutting the air with one hand. A shadow lashed out from it, slicing the rock in half. The two pieces flew passed him, on either sides.

It was quiet for a moment. Then… “you never told me about that power.”

Mark watched Zero stumble out from the doorway he created. On one side of his forehead was a nasty hole, clearing out a complete chunk of skin, showcasing the skull, blood, and peakings of brain underneath it. It wasn’t bleeding, catarized, most likely from Mark’s bullet. He had two other holes on the side of his hip, which was the cause of the limp he had gained. It didn’t look like it would affect him for long, given all the magic juice he’s hyped up on.

“Wanted to impress you later.” Mark spat, glancing behind him. Wade and Bob were standing back, thankfully, with Jack helping Wade. Ethan and Tyler were standing guard, watching Zero with a betrayal sort of hatred in their eyes. “Guess now is later.”

Zero scowled. “What would you do if you were in my position?” He asked, but he was glaring out at Mark’s other versions, at Wilford and the two Darks. They were all still, staring at Zero as he spoke. “You would do whatever it took to get him back. I’m… I’m just a ball of raw, pure magic, somewhere in the core of this body.” He placed both hands on his chest. “I… I don’t bring life or happiness or  _ anything  _ but protection to this world. But my host can! My Jamie can!

The two Dark versions of him were switching places, red taking blue’s spot and vise versa. They were flickering in and out on either side of him, to fast for him to keep up with. Wilford’s shade of pink seemed to be getting darker.

“My host can make people happy!” Zero continued. “He loved to draw, he was gifted at it! He loved to draw and sing and help people! All I was made to do was protect him, but I couldn’t even do that! I couldn’t protect Jamie!” He was screaming now, and Dark’s versions were going much too fast and Wilford seemed more red then pink. “Nothing you will ever say will ever make me believe that  **_you wouldn’t do the same in my situation!_ ** I am  **_NOTHING WITHOUT HIM!_ ** ” 

And Mark believed him.

And he knew without even looking that the others did too.

Because, if it was anyone else, their egos would do the very same thing. They’d do whatever they could to bring their host back. If it happened to anyone else, they’d be the bad guy in this story.

It was silent for a moment, before Wilford, in a blur of speed, liftied his gun, shooting out a pink bullet of his own straight at Zero.

Zero blocked it with a mound of earth, and everything started up again.

Wilford faded out of existence, but appeared a few moments later. Zero ran forward, water snaking around one of his hands and hardening into ice on the way there. He made a blind stab at Mark, who opened a shadow right in front of him, closing it as suddenly as he made it. Zero stumbled forward, a good chunk of his ice missing to the shadows, and Mark took that chance to elbow the back of his spine.

The two afterimages of Google and the Doctor added onto the onslaught, and Zero barely had time to recover, before he had to role out of the way from a kick aimed towards his head.

Zero got up while rolling, sending a strong air current at Mark’s feet. He stumbled, and Zero went in for a shot, when the red and blue Dark versions seemed to almost merge together, taking the hit and vanishing, only to reappear seconds later, less bright and corporal, but distracting nonetheless.

Mark took the moment to create more pink bullets, sending it towards Zero like a hailstorm. The man Incase’s himself in rock, stumbling backwards slightly from the force before pushing forward both rocky fists, shedding the rest of his outer skin as he went.

Mark sliced the first fist into pieces as it came closer, but didn’t get to the second one, which slammed straight into his gut. He coughed, shedding a slight bit of blood before wiping at his mouth. He wasn’t used to using all of this.

Zero charged forward, when a dozen different Marks appeared in a circle around the man. He stopped, confused, before they all converged. Instinctively, Zero ducked his head, but the illusion of Mark couldn’t harm him at all.

But Tyler and Ethan could.

They appeared, hidden in the fog that had rolled in with the Marks. Each grabbed an arm of their own, and Ethan’s eyes were glowing white, a sadistic grin tilted on his face. Zero froze for a moment, eyes widening in fear, before screaming at nothing.

“How does this feel?” Ethan, or more so Blank, murmured, giggling at the pain he was causing. “Don’t like it, do you?  _ There there,  _ **_it’ll all be over soon~_ ** ”

Zero seemed to spasm in their grip, and for a moment, Mark pitied the guy, but it didn’t last long. After another few seconds, he went limp, before yanking his head back with a roar, flames erupting from his body so hot that the two had to release him and jump back.

Zero didn’t attack though, instead curling up and grabbing his head, tearing at his hair and murmuring to himself, still surrounded in flames.

“What did you do?” Mark asked them, and his voice felt raw and used.

“Messed with his emotions.” Tyler’s eyes flashed into something darker. “On an extreme level. I’m honestly surprised he’s still alive.”

Ethan giggles as Mark’s stomach did a flip. He didn’t know if it was his own doing, or the powers around him. “Emotions go up then down. Up then down. Up then down then  **_gone._ ** ”

Mark didn’t really understand, but he guessed that they changed the levels of all of his emotions so much that he had a mental breakdown. That should be good.

Or not.

Because Zero was getting up, drooling excessively, eyes feral. He was wild. In a second, he was up in Ethan’s personal space. “Who needs a lab?” He snarled, grabbing the boy by his throat. “Why don’t I just take what I need the old fashion way?”

Water formed on his fingertips, freezing into icy daggers. Dark’s doubles and Wilford ran to the man, but didn’t get there in time for him to sink his hand deep into Ethan’s gut.

It was much to quiet for much to long of a second.

Then, Ethan laughed, just like Azalia had done. But his eyes were white and they glowed and that wasn’t Ethan anymore, not even slightly.

“That won’t work.” Blank snarled. “Because unlike you,  **_I’ll keep my host safe._ ** ”

Blank grabbed the hand around his throat, prying it off before doing the same to the hand in his stomach. He stumbled slightly, blood falling from his lips, before grinning.

Mark’s egos were on him by then, and Jack had caught Blank before it all finished, hand already alight with powers and on the wound. Mark watched them for a moment, before his own egos disappeared. Zero growled, alight in flame, before darting forward, still set on Blank.

He had to stop when a shadow threatened to cut him in half. Mark growled. “Look at Who you're fighting, Zero.” He paused, narrowing his eyes. His egos appeared, less corporal, around him. “Before I cut your head off.”

Zero glanced over, before sighing slightly, setting his sights again on Mark. Whatever Tyler and Blank did obviously was taking effect, he was staggering with almost every step.that didn’t stop him from punching out his fist, setting a plume of fire at him. Mark thought that was all, when Zero followed it up by slicing at the air, a current forming behind it.

The fire gained speed faster then he was prepared for, and he barely had time to make a shadow to consume it. He missed some of the beginning, though, and had to back up to avoid being burned.

He stumbled back a few steps, before his feet were encased in rocks. His motion almost made him fall, but he caught himself just in time. He readjusted just to see Zero darting towards him, one hand encased in rock, the other in fire.

He ducked under the first punch, grabbing the rock hand and throwing Zero over his shoulder, which was hard from his position, but he managed.

In a flurry of dark movement, a shadow had destroyed one of his ground cagings. He had just enough to turn around to see Zero aiming for his head again, with his fire fist.

He moved, just enough to miss his head, but it clipped his shoulder instead, almost lighting fire to his clothing. He grunted, clearly in pain, making a pink bullet to get Zero to back up. While he dealt with that, he destroyed the other earth around his other foot.

Clutching his shoulder, he glared at Zero, sending a large shadow at him to cut him in half. Unluckily, Zero moved fast enough to dodge, darting up once more for an uppercut.

Mark moved, but he wasn’t ready for Zero to sweep his leg. He fell to a knee, which was encased in earth before he could get up. The jerking force had him place a hand on the ground, which was encased as well.

Shit.

He heard Zero laugh behind him, but he couldn’t see. His ego’s doubles phased about, but they were dull from the times they already protected him. Zero walked to where he could see him, dagger of earth in his hand. Aiming for the same place he had with Blank, he sent it right into Mark’s gut.

Dark’s duplicates merged together again, forming a dark shadow, engulfing the earth dagger. The duplicates backed up slightly, before fading away. They didn’t come back.

But Mark could still feel Dark in his head, he knew that they were safe, just out of energy. But he was still stuck, and he needed to get out since Zero was making another earth weapon, looking annoyed.

Suddenly, several bolts of green energy flew passed Zero, several clipping the front of his body, the rest destroying the earth in his hand. Mark looked over to see Jack… glitching.

His eyes were a bright green, and his body seemed to be in several places at once, teleporting everywhere and anywhere, just like Mark’s ego’s duplicates had been doing. After a second, one of his eyes turned back to blue, and the other grew a pitch black iris. It was hard to see, though, from the amount he was moving, all while staying still.

And Mark could just feel the power oozing off of him. This was definitely one of his egos, but he doesn’t recognize this one’s powers.

**_This is Anti,_ ** Dark murmured, proudly and smugly.  **_Jack’s first ego, and my partner._ **

  
  


Mark had to stop himself from laughing. Anti was obviously the strongest one of Jack’s egos, and him being Dark’s partner. He couldn’t see how their powers connected, but it was obvious that the ego was enraged.

Jack didn’t even twitch a finger, but in one second he was in front of Zero. All Mark saw was Zero’s widen eyes, before Jack cocked his hand back and sent it straight into Zero’s face. He flew backwards, and wow, he’s strong.

Zero rolled for a few moments before catching a foot on the ground and jumping up with it. Blindly, he let out a wave of fire, as if to protect himself as he became oriented. Jack, or Anti, didn’t give him any time, though, appearing as if teleporting right into his face again, kneeing him in the gut.

_ He can teleport. _ Mark thought, confused.  _ How does that correlate to your powers? _

**_They don’t._ ** Google hummed.  **_Dark and Anti’s partnership is one of a kind. They are partners because they are the first egos of a multi egod person. With that being said, their partnership isn’t as strong as others, because they can’t compliment or reverse their partner’s actions, but they can take the excess energy of their partnership and give it to us, the other egos._ **

**_It is why they are partnered._ ** Dr. Iplier joined in.  **_Not to compliment or to reverse, but to support._ **

“Comin your way!” Anti said in a shrill voice, picking up Zero and hurling him towards Mark. Mark barely had enough time to catch the almost unconscious man, locking his arms behind him. He looked around for a collar, but in the new room Azalia had built, everything was just empty. Mark sighed slightly, holding the man tighter in response.

Slowly, Anti’s body lost it’s green hue, and soon Jack was blinking, eyes turning blue as his body stopped glitching about. Mark’s duplicates fizzled away.

“Well.” Bob said after a pregnant pause. “That was incredible to watch.”

Mark squished a smile, knowing what his words truly meant. The man would be, or is, okay. And if he was okay, then his friends were okay too.

“I wish I was able to join, if only a little bit.” Wade grumbled, still shaky on his feet but up now, and Mark silently thanked Jack’s healing. “So, What are we going to do with this guy?”

He didn’t know if it was Blank or Ethan that spoke next, but it felt like Blank. “I say we kill him and get it over with.”

“He’s the head of the rebellion.” Bob said as a response. “It’d look like a mutiny.”

Wade nodded along with him, but it looked like they were the only two not about to tear out Zero’s throat. Mark guessed it had something to do with the obvious threat put on their egos, and how their emotions clouded over and enhanced their own, but Mark was with Ethan. He wanted the bastard dead, twenty times over.

Tyler exhaled heavily, as if trying to keep it together. “Letting him live just puts more life in danger.” He spoke, barely keeping from seething. “He is an ego with no host,  _ this- _ “ He gestured to the others, trying to convey what he meant. “ **_Is more merciful than letting him live._ ** ”

Blank blinked, before giggling giddily. “Do you not think it fair for us to be his judge, jury, and executioner?” He asked softly, turning his gaze (which was slowly going back to white) over to Bob and Wade. “Because I think it’s  _ most _ fair. Let the  **_egos_ ** deal with the ego.  _ Not our hosts, but  _ **_us._ ** ”

And Mark felt his own egos colliding, surging forward in his mind like they wanted to take control. They wanted to be the one who ended Zero, and Mark could barely hold them back, the mental effort straining. 

The two magical people looked over to him, aware of his quickly flushing face. Mark could see Jack holding back his own egos as the temptation flooded them. Blank stared at them as well, and Tyler just looked straight ahead, still Tyler but only just. Mark could practically see the fire of Apocalypse underneath his skin, welling up inside of him.

“He hasn’t just harmed egos, though.” Bob said placidly, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “He just now murdered Azalia, and tried to kill Wade.” His voice was logical, but his words made Mark want to spill Zero’s blood even more. “And we’ve seen him kill others, all for the ‘good of the rebellion’. He has others he needs to atone for, too.” He paused. “And you wouldn’t kill a man who couldn’t fight back, would you?”

That dimmed a bit of the raging flames in Marks stomach and head, allowing him to sigh and think a little bit more clearly. Others needed their revenge, just as he needed his. They could have theirs together.

Just when Mark’s head seemed to clear, it started to haze again, a dull pain flashing from somewhere in his body. He groaned softly in pain, the adrenaline finally wearing off into nothing. Shifting, he tried to hide this newfound growing pain and hazy head from the others.

It didn’t work. “Mark, do you need me to heal you?” Jack asked, scanning his body in a medical manner, lips set in an irritated line. Of course he would notice first, and Mark was glad that he did, since he could heal him quickly, he just wished he didn’t bring so much attention.

Mark opened his mouth to answer, when a startled gasp replaced it. His abdomen clenched in pain as a flash of red hot agony zipped through it, ricocheting through his whole body.

He distantly felt his egos panic, felt Google try to take over his body and fail. He saw Wilford, his pink duplicate’s arm leaving where it was merged with his own arm and pushing Zero away. He saw Zero roll on the floor, clutching something as bright as a star itself in its hand, before he fell backwards, a heavy thump on the ground. He felt paralyzed.

His friends called his name, he knows. He saw most of them crowd around him. He felt Jack’s magic coursing through his body, trying to heal a nonexistent physical wound. He was swimming through some barrier he couldn’t seem to see as everything went by  _ much too fast _ around him.

The barrier broke when he heard Jack yelled out. “He’s missing one!”

Missing what?

That thought allowed him to finally move a little, blinking and shifting his head around. The colors of the world and lights mixed and fractured like it was raining broken crystals from above. He managed to pick up his head a little bit, biting back his pain as he went.

When he sat up, he could see Zero again, up and standing with a ball of something bright and warm, something like a miniature sun in his hands, but the ball was a golden color, something that just radiated power.

He had a strange,  _ strange, _ feeling, like that was his, and his alone.

He growled, voice much lower then he ever thought he could reach. “ **_Give that back!_ ** ”

Zero’s lips twisted into a frown. “I was hopeing doing that would kill you.” He murmured, but Mark still heard and he struggled to get up, for some reason to weak to.

“What is that?” Wade asked in pure wonder, staring at the ball of what Mark could only call magic in Zero’s hand.

“That.” Jack said with gritted teeth, staring at it with a look of deep hatred in his eyes. “Is the true form of an ego.” He spat. “The raw, magical energy that makes one up. Zero just took it from Mark- I just healed the enter wounds.” He turned back to look at the still sitting man. “Which  **_ego_ ** are you missing, Mark?” His voice was tilting again.

He was… he was missing an ego? But… but he just felt Google and Wilford, and Dr. Iplier had just informed him of some lacerations and Dark was just being his normal broody self not talking-

Where was Dark? He usually isn’t quiet during these kind of things.

The ball of magic seemed to fight in Zero’s hands, stretching about and sparking in his hands as if it was trying to get away, it was leaning towards Mark, wanting  _ him _ , and Mark really didn’t know why but he wanted the ball of magic too. It was a bright gold but it still felt dark, and Mark could see slivers of silver run through the magic every now and then-

Oh no.

“Dark.” Mark breathed, horror filling every single atom of his being. Zero had just reached into his center and ripped out one of his egos, hopeing to kill him in the process. Zero almost killed him. Zero took Dark. He was almost killed. Dark was  _ gone _ .

The others were glaring at the man, starting to circle him, while Zero kept them at arm's length via his hostage. Mark didn’t know how to feel- he couldn’t feel even, everything was blurry.

Even though he couldn’t see, he could still clearly see Jack. He could see how his skin turned slightly green again, as well as the change of his eyes. This time, though, his clothes seemed to burn into black clothing, and his teeth sharpened slightly.

Anti hissed. “ **_W̶h̵o̴ ̵t̴h̵o̸u̴g̶h̵t̶ ̵a̴ ̴m̷a̷n̴ ̸c̸o̶u̵l̴d̸ ̸b̵e̴ ̷t̷h̴i̶s̸ ̷s̵t̸u̸p̴i̴d̵_ ** ?̴”

 

**——X——**

 

The ego jumped onto Zero, lashing out while grabbing for Dark, or his energy. Zero jumped back, keeping his hold on Dark. The ball of magic that made up Dark didn’t have a face to show emotion, but it was clear to see how  _ terrified _ and  _ angry _ it was. Anti moved viciously about, lunging at the ego with fatal intentions.

Mark still had problems moving, but he was able to roll onto his stomach. His egos (that were still there) had gone into a panic, and their voices crowded his mind until he wasn’t sure what were his thoughts or his egos.

He felt someone help him up, Wade, he thinks. He leaned on the man, still not able to process much of what was happening. Dark was… not with him, he knew that, but it all became so distorted and his egos would all yell and-

Is this what dying feels like?

Mark groaned, doubling over. He didn’t fall because of whoever was carrying him- but why was someone holding him up? What… why can’t he hold himself up?

His egos were all yelling, but Dark was uncharacteristically silent which was weird cause he was the one who always stopped these fights. Where was he? Mark tried to reach him, but his headache (where’d the headache come from-) made him give up.

When had he been lowered to the floor?

His tasted something coppery before he felt liquid slide down his chin, and it was red and he should know what it was but he didn’t. Wait, why should he know what it is?

The voices in his head quieted, as if listening to his thoughts (which is impossible, no one can read minds-) and they were talking now, no more yelling. His own head seemed to clear slightly, like they were doing something, but Mark wasn’t sure exactly what it was.

And he didn’t really care, because why was he on the ground again?

He sat up, and people he knew (his  _ friends- _ ) looked at him, asking if he was okay, and why wouldn’t he be? 

He wiped the red liquid (blood, he remembers-) off of his mouth before speaking. “I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

One of his friends -Wade?- blinked. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because of-!”

Another one of his friends cackled slightly, shhing the other. He had white eyes, and Mark thought it looked cool. “Don’t speak of him~” He sang, but his voice was low and distorted and angry. “His brain will short circuit if you do… let the defense mechanism do it’s work.”

“What defense?” Mark asked, confused but… not, because why does he need to be confused? What’s the purpose? He wiped his mouth again. “Defense against my egos? Why, they’re just talking- I mean, they were screaming but now they’re talking-“

Another man slammed into the ground besides Mark. The man, Zero, groaned, still curled around the ball of magic. Mark felt like he knew the magic, but why would he? And why was the magic stretching towards him? Strange.

Another man, one Mark felt the voices in his head like… a lot, appeared, aiming to stomp his head and watch his brains splatter all over the floor. Why would he do that? Mark… wanted to watch it, for some terrible reason. He must be a terrible person, if he wanted to see this.

But the ball of magic was so close and he wanted to touch it…

He reached his hand out. Just a little farther...

Zero rolled away from him, scrambling out of the way. Anti, he thinks, ran after him, and did he have claws? Mark blinked. He must’ve imagined them.

The white eyed boy joined Anti, as did another guy. They all jumped Zero -Which wasn’t fair, 3v1- at once, and Mark could see the ball of magic in the mass of tangled limbs.

Mark slowly got up, crawling over to the dog pile. The two that stayed with him protested, but he ignored it, because the magic was so appealing and bright…

After a moment Zero bursts into flames, causing the others to jump off. Mark was a foot or so away from the man, who stared at him back. Mark knew he was bleeding from his mouth. He was bleeding and sweating profusely and probably had drool on his chin but he didn’t care because that magic…

That magic as  _ his. _

**_His_ ** _ and  _ **_only his._ **

Mark growled slightly, grabbing the magic from Zero’s surprisingly weak hands and yanking it away. Immediately, hands grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him away from the ego and Mark clutched the magic ball to his chest.

Or, he was. It was stuck there without him now, it seemed.

Not stuck, disappearing.

In a few moments, the ball of magic had disappearing into his chest, as if it merged with him.

And everything snapped back into place.

Mark blinked,  _ actually  _ wiping the drool and blood from his chin and mouth before backing up. Dark was silent in his mind, and Mark couldn’t hear him if he did speak, since the others were so loud over him.

But he could tell how Dark felt, and it was hard to describe. It was fear and anger and pain and hopelessness and loneliness and-

Mark’s rage crashed back into him like a waterfall striking the ground.

He growled, low and deep and  _ very loud _ , forming a shadow and pushing it forward, intending to skewer Zero where he stood. The man moved in time, back could do nothing for the green bullet that ripped through his leg, carving through anything in its path and leaving a hole from front to back.

Zero  _ screamed. _

Mark didn’t let him finish, though, as he had already riddled the man with his own collection of pink bullets.

 

Zero’s body was peppered with holes. True, only one or two in the right place would’ve been enough, but Mark was still seething in anger and pain from Azalia’s death, and from temporarily losing Dark. He wanted Zero to regret what he's done, he wanted revenge.

He wanted Azalia back.

But that wouldn’t happen. 

Blood trickled down Zero’s mouth and throat, hiding in the black of his clothes like the rest of his wounds were. He stumbled back, somehow staying standing as he looked forward blankly.

“I…” He said, swallowing. “I feel…  **_him._ ** ”

He blinked, and his greenish blue eyes turned brown. A light, soft,  _ innocent, _ brown. The next time he spoke, his voice was quiet and scared. “What’s-what’s going on?”

Mark narrowed his eyes, stepping forward to end this when Dr. Iplier spoke.  **_That’s not Zero, Mark._ **

**_That’s…_ ** Dark paused.  **_His host._ **

“Wh-who a-are you?” He hiccuped, blood gushing from his mouth. “Wh-where’s my mom-my mommy? Why does it-  _ why does it all hurt?! _ ”

Zero, or, Jamie, paused, before his eyes rolled up into his head and he fell. Mark didn’t need his egos to tell him that the man (the boy-) was dead.

He had just indirectly killed a child.

...where was his remorse?

 


	9. Chapter 9: Our Farewells

They had been in a subsection of tunnel Zero had dug out that nobody knew about. Azalia probably felt her way there using her own magic. It was a lucky thing, in general, for her to show up, for her to give them enough time to escape.

Mark gave out a great, heaving, sigh. He found a thin type of fabric to wrap her in, picking her up moments later. She deserved a burial.

Something slipped out of her pocket. An address to some house in peasant quarter. He would check that out, once he was sure everyone was home safely. Ater that… he didn’t know what to do. It was all to much.

By the time they had reached the exit he had already left shock, and was going down a darker road. Gasping, he fell back slightly, hand to the wall, to the shadows. Zero. Jamie. The collars. Azalia was dead. He had killed a child. It really was all to much. He couldn’t be here anymore.

Ethan felt it before anyone saw it. “Hey, Mark-” He spun around, worry on his face “-you okay there?”

Mark didn’t answer, just staring forward. Azalia’s body seemed to heavy in his hands. The others had turned around now, watching him. He didn’t want anyone watching him. Watching him panic. Watching him break down. It was to much. He wanted _out._

 **_...Let me help._ ** Dark said slowly, cautiously, like he was talking to a wounded puppy, and Mark hated that but there wasn’t much he could do for it. He gave a mental nod, not sure if he could even control his body enough to do a physical one. He was just so… done. Done with it all. He was so _tired._ His arms and hands had long since grown numb, and he was worried about dropping Azalia.

Tyler seemed to sense it too, and Jack’s eyebrows knitted together as he got a whiff of it as well. Mark doesn’t know if the emotional blocks were back up, but he doubted they had made one for panic, since he rarely ever did it when he was just around them, before this whole thing started. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a startled squeak came out.

He just wanted this all to be over already.

Dark hummed, pleased by some invisible accomplishment.

“That’s not good.” Tyler muttered, bounding forward. ”Mark you need to calm dow-”

His hand disappeared into the shadows of the wall, and he fell forward, his whole body falling in rather quickly. The last sound he heard was the surprised gasps of his friends. His safe friends.

He’s never been in a shadow before. Covered by shadows, yes, but never in. It felt like swimming, to a certain point. Swimming in the darkest dark of the ocean, no sound, no light, nothing. Your ears felt clogged but they ringed with that same pitch you get when you move underwater, and moving in a shadow was certainly like swimming.

He only felt safe, though, because he was in shadows. He’s never been to the ocean, but he had an inkling that this is somewhat like how it was. He already hated the ocean.

He doesn’t know how long he was in there, but he appeared somewhere else after. It was dark, but not to dark, so he could have only been in there for half an hour or so. At least he wasn’t gone for long.

Mark still didn’t trust himself to speak, so he silently thanked Dark instead. The ego hummed, probably one of the happiest times Mark’s ever seen him. Which isn’t much, but still.

Still clutching Azalia’s body close to him, he took in his surroundings. He was at a house, a nice house, with two stories, but abandoned. It was easy to see that no one had lived there for a long time. It sat right up against the noble quarter’s wall, the color almost blending in. Flowers rimmed the house, nice pretty orange and blue and purple flowers that were obviously taken care of, but by who, he didn’t know.

The door was locked, but there was a backyard gate, left wide open and waiting. Taking a quick glance around, Mark almost blankly went inside, still fighting out his shock and sadness. It didn’t help that Azalia’s body was heavy in his arms, and it had long since gone cold.

The backyard was a plethora of flowers, more than Mark has ever seen before, anywhere. Vines climbed over the fence, leaving green walls with leaves and flowers blooming over them. It reminded him of a story his mother once read to him, when she was able to borrow the book from a friend. There was a garden, called the garden of Eden, and there was a painted picture as well. He vaguely wondered if the person based their garden after that book’s picture, or if it was the other way around.

In the middle of the yard sat a tombstone, one at least a couple decades old. Next to it, a hole. Mark sneaked closer, bending down to read the worn out words on the stone.

****

_My greatest sorrows, hidden underground,_

_Cole, I hope you are somewhere better,_

_Playing with your father and your ego,_

_You never told me his name_

****

Mark stared at it. He stared at the elegant but shaky font in front of him. He kept staring. He stared until his eyes went blurry from not blinking and the sky had fully turned dark. And then he blinked and kept staring.

The hole next to him had a casket with a plaque and a bag inside.

****

_I will be at my happiest,_

_When my bones make the earth fertile,_

_And my child is once again in my arms_

****

Mark set the body he’s been carrying for what seemed like ages down, moving the plague and bag out of the casket. Gently, ever so gently, he laid Azalia inside, taking the fabric covering her body and replacing it. Once he was done, the material laid over her like a blanket, covering everything but her face and neck, tucked in like she was sleeping. He had closed her eyes.

Saying one last silent goodbye, he closed the casket, looking around numbly afterwards. Behind the hole was a slab of dirt, obviously taken from the hole itself. The slab quickly disappeared into the shadows, appearing right above the hole before falling in, burying the casket.

She was gone.

He wiped his eyes, unsure when they had started tearing up, before taking the plaque and putting it firmly in the ground, parallel to the tombstone. He took a few minutes to make sure it was perfect, before looking into the bag.

The first thing he saw was a piece of paper, with another address. It was the address to their base.

****

_Bring this bag to this address, and ask for one of these names. Thank you._

****

Inside the bag was boxes, some bigger then others, all with a scribble of a name on it. Marzia, Ethan, Tyler, Bob, Wade, and a few more that Mark kinda knew from the rebellion but not really. There was even one for Chica, Maya, and Edgar.

There was one for him.

He sat down in the soft grass, taking out the box. It was the smallest one in the entire bag, so small that he almost missed it. Peeling off the tape, a piece of paper inside caught the slight gust of wind and almost flew out. Mark caught it, taking a moment to clear his eyes before reading.

****

_One of my greatest regrets is that I realized this too late. I held who I could love at a distance, and never grew up because of it. I hope that I was able to make it up to you all, before I pass._

_Because, Mark, I considered you to be the son I never had._

_I couldn’t give Cole this, but I know he wants you to have it._

****

It was a necklace. A simple necklace, but very expensive by the looks of it.Mark put it on as he looked closer at it. Custom carved, as well, since it showed a silhouette of a little boy (or just boy or man in general) in silver. He had no facial or body features to speak of, and only from the carving could you tell that he was sitting crisscrossed, his head looking up into the sky. There was a heart etched into his chest, small but there and elegantly done, but that wasn’t what caught his attention.

His stomach had a circle etched into it, a ball of energy placed right on his gut. There was no color to differentiate it from everything else, only what the carver did, but it stood out from some reason that he didn’t understand. It was like his eyes just gravitate towards it. When he looked hard enough, the ball seemed to go a bit yellow, and the whole boy himself seemed to gain a red aura.

He almost dropped it.

Something glinted on the paper he had read.

Mark flipped over the paper, and in a scrawled font, it wrote:

****

_When are you going to tell everyone that you have an ego?_

****

Mark would’ve froze if anyone was with him. He never told Azalia that he had egos, she learned when everyone else did. This was before then, he could tell. Azalia knew, and she never told anybody? She knew, and she decided to give him a necklace that obviously meant so much to her.

This was her will.

It hit him so suddenly, that this was what it was for. Everything that she truly cared for, all in here, all for the people she cared for.

It was all to much all to soon.

The bag was enveloped in shadows, and soon he was too.

****

**\----X----**

****

He appeared on top of the Grand Judgement building. It was flat, apparently, and the tallest building in the kingdom. He looked out at the world in front of him, hundreds of lights shining in the streets of the noble quarter, and hundreds of stars shining above the peasant quarter. 

It was… peaceful. He took a deep breath, savoring the air. With Azalia put to rest, he might start to relax.

“Where’d you get that necklace?”

Mark jumped, spinning around to face whoever it was. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Mat and Nate, Mat being the one who spoke and Nate sitting on the wall around the roof, looking over the kingdom.

“A friend.” Mark answered. “I don’t think you knew her.”

Mat nodded, and he thought it was the end of that, when- “ ** _I’ve never seen anything like that before._** ”

Mark’s head shot over to him, but Mat just looked down at the ground, and Nate wouldn’t stop staring at a particular spot on the horizon. “Uh, dude, you okay?”

Mat’s head shot up. “Yeah, I’m fine-” He paused, blinking, and his eyes were suddenly black and curious. He snaked forward. “ ** _That metal is almost impossible to make._** ” He brought his hand up to fiddle with Mark’s new necklace. “ ** _Do you know what this does?_** ”

Mark kinda understood what was going on, but still not completely, because egos weren’t supposed to do this. “Uh-”

“Mad.” Nate finally looked over, and his eyes were black as well and _ohh_ that’s _not_ Nate. “Cut it off.”

Mad huffed, before something of a twisted smile showed on his face. “ ** _Whatever you say, darling~_** ” He blinked again, and his eyes turned back to brown. “Ugh, I hate this.”

“What’s going on?” Mark asked, both worried and paranoid. “Nate you explained but isn’t Mad only a thing when you're collared?”

“We thought so.” Mat crossed his arms. “But it seems to be that psychological trauma is more powerful than we thought.”

“...huh?”

“Kastor has been the one pullng their strings since they were children.” Mare explained. “Killing him kinda…” He bounced his head back and forth as he looked for a word. “Broke their brains permanently.”

Mark legitimately… didn’t know what to say to that.

“And broken brains usually means insane and-or suicidal people.” Mat shrugged. “At least, that’s what I thought.”

“Their brains have actually broken.” Mare said. 

“Not our entire brain.” Mat interjected. “Just parts of it.”

“Important parts.” Mare rolled his eyes. “Mostly emotional parts-”

“It’s the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala basically-”

“ ** _Mad_**.” Mare’s voice had gotten rougher, and his eyes flashed. Mark looked at Mat, and was surprised to see that he still had brown eyes, but they flashed as well. Who was in control?

“Anyways.” Mare continued. “Long story short, they were going to die. Be it from starvation, sickness, or whatever, they were going to die, and soon.”

“They were going to bring emotionally unstable to the next level.” Mat- no, Mad chuckled. “And humans can’t deal with that. Their bodies can’t deal with that strain. So, we’re fixing them.”

“It’s just a little touch and go.” Mare said. “We have to use our raw energy to do so, and thats dangerous in the first place.”

“We’re mind merging!” Mad did a little jump and clapped his hands. “Half Mat, half me! Soon you won't wonder whose in control, cause we’ll both be!” He took a few steps forward, back into Mark’s personal space. “Now, do you know what that necklace is?”

Mark didn’t want to end the conversation they were on. He rather like to at least say goodbye to the two he now considered somewhat friends. But he also didn't want to upset Mad… in any way possible… at all. “No.”

“That.” He poked the necklace. “Is a piece of silver ore that was melted using fire magic and cooled using water magic… from the same person.” Mad did a twirl. “Incredibly rare, for someone to have fire and water. The last one died twenty years ago, you were all only five or so. Incredibly special.”

Mark wrinkled his nose, not at anyone, but he was surprised that Azalia would give something that incredible to _Mark_ of all people. “Why?”

He bounded up, touching the necklace again. After a moment, the circle indicating the ego glowed white and the boy itself glowed purple, the color of his aura. “It can absorb auras and show them off, like so.” He gestured. “Once you learn how to use it, you can make it do that whenever you want, twenty four seven or never again. An impressive party trick.”

Mark had a feeling that there was more to do with it then what Mad said.

Mare blinked, looking around. “Why are we up here?”

Mad turned around. “Hush, Nate, I'm teaching your friend something.”

Nate grinned. “Oh, go fuck off.”

Mad pouted. “He’s so mean to his partner.” He said to Mark, as if wanting his sympathy. “I have to deal with that _every day.”_

“Nah.” Nate said. “I think it’s actually the other way around.”

“Whatever you say, sweetie.”

“I will throw you off this roof.”

“Hey!” Mad squawked indignantly, and that’s all he needed to see to know that it wasn’t Mad anymore. “Don’t blame me for him!”

Nate seemed to see that too. “You're his host.”

“Yeah, _host,_ not parent!”

“We’re older than you, and we know more, too.” Nate’s (Mare’s?) eyes flashed, and Mark was starting to get confused. “So we would be the parent in this situation, not you.”

“You waltzed into our bodies, how are you older than us?” Mat crossed his arms, not really upset but making a good effort.

“That's for egos to know and for hosts to fuck off about.”

“Well.” Mark interrupted, because he was sure that would go on for a while if he didn’t. “Im happy I got to see you all one last time, even if, you know-” He gestured at the two of them, before creating a shadow to walk through. “-this, is happening. Stay safe.”

They both looked at each other, before bursting out laughing. “Oh.” It was Mad again. “He thinks he’s never going to see us again.”

Mare jumped down from the wall, walking up to him. “Never is a hard commitment.” The ego said was a sly grin. “And trust me when I say hosts aren’t good at commitment.”

“We totally are!” Mark said, offended. “We’re committed to our egos and their partners, and thats a lifetime thing!”

Mare laughed. “He thinks that his doing, and not his egos.” He patted Mark’s shoulder. “We’ll meet again soon.”

He was shoved through the shadow.

  


He landed in the common room.

Of course, his entire group was there, including Marzia and Felix. And Chica, for whatever reason. No one else was there, but he didn’t care about that, since Dark just decided to drop him inelegantly directly on the tabletop. He yelped, falling to the ground afterwards. Chica licked his face.

Once he got up, he was punched back down. “Don’t you fucking ever do that again.”

“Ow, what the-” Mark stopped himself, staring at Tyler while holding his cheek. “Tyler, what the hell? Ow, that fucking hurts!”

“I hope it does!” Tyler was mad, really mad, for some reason. “You don’t just get to go and disappear like that out of nowhere, right after what happened! Do you know how _bad_ and _loud_ your emotions were?”

“No, I don’t.” Mark answered truthfully. “Because I'm experiencing them, not seeing them. I don’t know why you all were so worried but-”

“You're an idiot.”

It came from Ethan, who spoke in one of the coldest voices Mark’s ever heard. “What?”

“Did you even take a second.” He said. “I think about what you said?

“Said?” Mark asked. “I didn’t say anything!”

“Yeah, you did.” Bob interjected. “Said you wanted out, said you were tired, said you were done with it all.”

He had spoken aloud when he thought he was just thinking. Shit, that’s not good.

“I’ve been able to see emotions my whole life.” Ethan said, something much to somber for the boy. “I’ve gotten good at picking up patterns. And you, Mark… I was certain that you were about to go jump off a building.”

Oh.

Oh.

_Oh._

“I-” He didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t been thinking like that at all, in the past few hours. He had been to focused on Azalia, on Jamie, to really think about himself. “Im sorry. For making you think that. Here.” He brought out Azalia’s bag. “This is what I was doing.”

He took out each box, giving it to its respective person/dog. Felix didn’t get anything, but Marzia had him open the ones for Maya and Edgar. “Where’d you get this?”

He looked down. “She had a note in her pocket, fell out when I picked her up. It gave me an address, and I went there.” He looked back up, catching some eyes. “She had a casket waiting for her. These were inside.”

It was silent for a bit as everyone looked at their gifts. Marzia and Felix had apparently learned what happened, since they didn’t ask questions. Mark opened Chica’s box, smiling softly when he saw a bandanna inside, handmade and soft to the touch. Chica licked his nose as he put it on, before shaking and laying back down.

“I think we should leave.”

Everyone looked back at Mark as he spoke again. “I think we should leave this kingdom, find somewhere else to live.”

“What about the rebellion?” Wade asked. “We just won, if we leave now nothing will change.”

“One, Two, and Three are still here.” Marzia said. “When Zero is declared dead, they’ll take over. They can finish this, better then we can. It’ll cause to much suspicion for known egos to be working with the new Grand Judgement.”

“And this place might change, but I know it’s not going to change enough.” Mark said. “We’ll get rid of slavery, we’ll get rid of servatude, but some will still treat egos and nonmagical people wrong. I’d rather leave and take them with us then let them hope for something better and not get it.”

He sounded cold, and he knew he did. He just… didn’t care.

“I agree.” Tyler said after a moment, and Ethan nodded. “We’ve been fighting this for a long time. I think others can finish it for us.”

“And it’ll be safer to take the egos and servants somewhere else, instead of letting them fend for themselves here.” Ethan added on. “The question is, where? This kingdom may be the worst when it comes to slavery, but the other kingdoms allow it as well.”

“Then we won't go to another kingdom.” Mark said in absolute. “We’ll go to a safehouse. We have Bob, we have other earth magic users. We can build somewhere for all of us to live. Somewhere where little kids don’t have to worry about being collared before their egos even show up.”

The group quieted at that, and Mark knew who they were all thinking about. He wasn’t though. He was thinking about Mat and Nate.

Speak of the devil, Marzia speaks. “Zero wasn’t the only one that happened to.” She said. “Mad and Mare, Mat and Nate. They were collared before their egos appeared.”

Everyone looked surprised, but Mark was just surprised that she knew. Mark wasn’t going to saw anything, since it was there business, but Marzia obviously knew them better than he did, and if she thought it was okay (and she was an empathic woman, so she definitely thought about it) then he trusted her. “It’s why they’re like that.” Mark continued. “They had bonded before their egos showed, too. They said it’s the only reason that they survived.”

Another depressing layer just dropped on the group.

“I don’t want any child, anyone to ever have to deal with that.” Wade said. “As long as I’m able to do something to help. I'm in.”

“So am I.” Felix said, finally speaking.

Bob chuckled. “I’ve always wanted to see what kind of buildings I could make, if I really got into it. I’m in.”

Marzia giggled behind her hand. “I feel like we’re kids again, going on an adventure. Im in.”

“I'm coming, too.”

Jack had walked in, taking an open seat and adding himself to the conversation with ease. “Really?” Mark smirked.

“Totally.” Jack grinned. “And it’s good I am. I have a few egos under my care that I would like out of this kingdom too. Plus a few earth magic users. It’ll make building go by much faster.”

“Don’t you have a crime syndicate or something to run?” Felix grinned.

“Not anymore.” Jack’s smile had gone into something much to wide but just enough fun. “I destroyed it.”

Wait.

There was a small pause.

What?

“You what?”

Jack shrugged. “I destroyed it. I tore it all down. It’s gone.” He looked up. “What, you thought that I had made an underground _dangerous_ criminal syndicate stable? I made sure from the moment I got in control that as soon as I left, it would all fall apart. I couldn’t let what they were doing continue.”

Mark blinked. “Wow.” he said. “Didn’t expect that.”

He shrugged, again. “I have orphans under my care. Have to make sure that they can grow up somewhere safe.” He paused. “They’re coming with us, too. I think one’s an ego and I want to keep an eye on them all.”

“Fine by me.” Mark grinned. “The more the better.” And he wouldn’t have to worry about his egos at all. Now that they were all bonded (and their partner was here) they were all a lot more content and happier, either way.

They spent the next few hours planning, figuring out what safehouse to go to, which one had enough resources and what location was the best. They started contacting people that they think would like to come, be non magical, ego, or magical. They started stockpiling for the trip the next day, bringing regular supplies along with things like tools and seeds and the like. Mark will never forget when Ethan came into their supply room carrying three lambs. They’re lucky that he now knows that his shadows can carry animals with no problems.

Mark’s power did come in handy, more than anyone else's. He had infinite space in the abyss, and that meant that no one had to carry anything but the clothes on their backs. Jack even managed to get some horse and buggies, enough for everyone coming with them. It was a tight squeeze in many of them, and Bob and a few others and to continually make roads for them to travel on, but that was a win as well. Not only did it only take a day to get there, but they now had a road to travel on as well.

They were around an hour away when Jack jumped up into Mark’s buggy. It was the smallest one, and could barely fit one person, so Mark had taken it. He stayed in the front, closest to Bob and the others, making sure that the road was okay for the others.

Mark understood why he was there. They had been riding nonstop to get there as fast as possible, and while no one complained it had been around 22 hours. They had eaten on the go, and the children were running alongside the buggies whenever they got bored, but it was still 22 hours.

Mark’s egos were starting to get impatient.

Luckily, just being close to the other man seemed to be enough and they calmed inside of him. Mark hadn’t gone back and spoken to anyone that whole time, lost in his own thoughts and on the path ahead. Ethan and Tyler had come forward a few times to check up on him, while also getting supplies from his shadows to give the others. Other then that, he’s been alone with his thoughts.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“What’s what?” Mark replied, eyes squinted in confused. 

“Dude. I can feel it from back there.” He jabbed a finger behind him. “You're all kinds of messed up right now.”

“No I'm not!” Mark huffed, quiet indignantly. “Im perfectly fine. Just thinking.”

“There are three people in the world you should never try to lie to.” Jack said, holding up three fingers before touching one of them. “One, your partner.” Another finger. “Two, Ethan.” Another finger. “And, three, Tyler. They feel it too.”

“I am fine.” Mark said honestly. “I'm just thinking about what’s to come. It’s going to be a lot of work, and I can hear everyone talking. They want me to be in charge.”

“Yep.” Jack said. “And you will be. Along with Marzia, and Bob, and Wade, and Ethan and Tyler and hey, maybe even Felix and me. Don’t think you're alone.”

“Yeah.” Mark said softly. “I really am fine.”

Jack looked at him for a long moment, his eyes going distant before coming back. “Oh, you goober.”

Mark looked at him incredulously. “What?”

“You haven’t slept in, like, three days!” Jack almost shouted. “And doubt you dare deny it, my egos see right through you.”

“There's been a lot needed to get done!” Mark raised his voice, before lowering it again. Chica had taken to jumping onto the back of the buggy, were there was a tiny cart, and sleeping there whenever she didn’t want to walk anymore. This time, though, she had brought some friends, a beagle and a small mixed dog, and they were all sleeping and Mark knew the beagle would start yapping if he woke it up. “I had to be up, to make sure everything went as planned. Trust me, I can go a few days with sleep.”

“Trust us, we can go a few days without everything blowing up.” Jack crossed his arms. “Trust your friends, Mark. We can handle it, at least for a little bit. Take a nap, I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Mark wanted to argue, but his egos were against him. He suddenly felt _very_ tired. “Alright.”

Jack grinned, before making his way out of the buggy, making sure not to kick the horse or anything as he climbed down. “You deserve a rest. You’ve done a lot in the past week.” Jack grinned. “And little Marky still needs his beauty sleep.”

Mark flipped him off. Jack’s grin widened, and he disappeared.

Mark looked behind him, taking in the pack of people behind him. In front of him, a group of five or so people had just switched out with some others, creating a smooth road for them to ride on. The buggy with Tyler, Ethan, and Wade in it came up close to his, to keep an eye on his horse while he slept. It was loud, his back hurt from the ride, and the sun was going to be the death of him.

His necklace glowed a bright red. With just a little green mixed up in it. His egos hummed when he looked at it.

Mark smiled, feeling more at ease then he has in a long time.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10: Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POST-POST EDIT- Wow. I’ve just reread my comments. You all are going to make me cry, stop it. Thank you... so much, for every compliment. You don’t know how helpful it is...
> 
> salmonisforthebagel-  
> No, I don’t. I don’t really use social media at all, but if you link it i’ll definitely check it out and put it after the epilogue if you want me to! Thank you for spending the time to make art!

There were only eight or so buildings so far. The one in the center was certainly the biggest, since it use to be a safe house, nestled into the side of a forest in between their old home’s hot climate and another kingdom where it was almost always cold. It allowed them to experience all types of weather, and Mark really enjoyed it.

That safehouse had turned into a city hall and refuge of types. It was large enough to hold everyone and then some, so it was always full of people bustling around. Not only that, but many had decided to set up shop in one of the many hallways of the place, turning that hall and the dorms in it into a market. There wasn’t much to sell, and currency was slightly blotched, but the crops were growing and the animals were turning plump. There’d be more things soon.

The other buildings made were houses. Mostly dorms, so to speak. Most of the houses were at least two stories, with several bedrooms up there and a common room on the ground. They didn’t have time to build singular houses for each family. And no one seemed to care.

One building was the barn, which was almost as big as the safe house. Sectioned off to hold the animals and crop tools, it also held the buggy’s when not in use and held the stables. Marzia was very proud of this building, since she designed it herself, and it had the most aesthetic appeal.  

One building was a shrine, to all the egos and servants who had been treated poorly and died. It was also a shrine to Azalia. He never took his necklace off.

The last building was a school. While there was a pretty large literary in the city hall, they had decided that the school needed to be its own place, since almost everyone was working from dusk to dawn and the children needed some place to be and be kept occupied. The dogs usually stayed there too, during the day, just to entertain the kids as well. Chica and Maya loved it. Edgar was just grumpy, like usual.

Almost all of the egos of the kingdom had joined them when they left, including any of them with kids, and some families with ego kids left as well, of just had their kid join them. That meant that in the roughly 200 hundred people here, more than half were ego. The rest were rebels and servants/peasants. There weren’t many rebels, many had stayed to watch over what they left at their old kingdom.

Mat and Nate appeared every now and then, with egos from other kingdoms, wishing for a better life. They didn’t go by Mat and Nate anymore, and their personality had warped. Mark couldn’t tell if their egos were now in permanent control, if their hosts were, or if they shared control. Now, whatever it was, Mad and Mare had two rooms saved for them in the dorms where Mark and his friends lived.

It was helpful, since Mad was a genius in almost everything. The first time he showed up, he was able to finish up mapping and plotting the infrastructure for their new city, something that had taken weeks to make. The second time, he had designed a sufficient way to create and distribute electricity to all of the buildings. Including those not even built yet. The third, and he had brought not only egos, but horses carrying things like heating and AC units, fridges, and the like. What kingdom had heating units like that, Mark didn’t even know. Mare, it seemed, was a lot more confident with his voice powers then Nate was, and would sing to the children every day at school and at night to get them to sleep. They never had nightmares.

Every now and then, when everyone got together, he’d sing to them all too. Most of the egos watched, fascinated but not under Its complete control. Others swayed about and left in a dream-like state. The egos that really knew him didn’t get into the song, but laughed and joked, because the music still made them peaceful and happy.

“What happened after I left? At the roof?” He asked them one day as they walked around. No one else was about, since it was dark out, late at night.

Mare shrugged. “I don’t really know.” He confessed. “Just… after everything, I guess we wanted to restart.”

“We… haven’t _really_ been Matthew or Nathan in a long time.” Mad said. “Not since we were young, not since this all started. We wanted to leave those names with the happy memories we did have of them, and not… taint them with everything else.”

“So, we put them to rest.” Mare finished. “They finally got the break they deserve. We visited our parents for the first time in years, and said goodbye.”

That was all there was to say on the matter.

Jack stuck around too, and the money he brought with him, out of the wreckage of the criminal underground, was what was paying for all of the stuff they were getting in trade. It was definitely enough to get them started, and there was quite enough left to even set up a currency along with it. An iffy one, but one nonetheless. Mark also finally got to meet Jack’s right hand man, this guy named Robin, a fire user who helped establish the fire cult the crime ring hid behind. He was a cool man to know.

Felix and Marzia told everyone that they were partners. Everyone with partners just laughed, already having guessed it. Everyone else cheered for them. For Mark, it was the first time he personally knew someone who was partnered with someone else, who was also romantically involved. At least, that he knew of.

It was nice to see, anyway.

Ever since Zero’s fight, and their egos’ bond, Mark’s noticed how much his aura’s changed, and how quickly. Where it would never be as indistinguishable as Mad’s and Mare’s were, it would get to something close sooner rather than later. And, for some lucky reason, his egos were rather good with the staying away from each other thing. At the beginning, when Jack first left to sort something out somewhere else, everyone watched him closely, scared of what four lonely egos could do in tandem. He was, too, since the ride there made them irritated. But his egos seemed to comfort each other, and so he could go around a full week before starting to feel anything.

There were problems. Absolutely, there were. Several egos would wake up every night from a terror, screaming about the living nightmare they dealt with for months or years. Every now and then, Mark would open the door to his room to find his partner sleeping outside of it, just because being closer was the only way to calm his egos after a night terror and the panic attack afterwards. Mark did the same thing, one or two times, and he had only been collared twice. Blank would appear once or twice a month, completely taking over Ethan’s body, and Apocalypse would emerge from Tyler, not completely out but burning underneath his skin, silent but deadly. Since they didn’t have such a persistence purpose anymore, fighting the Grand Judgement, their thoughts would wander. And a host’s wandering thoughts were never good.

It was getting better, though. There was a therapist that worked at the safehouse before this all happened, and she had taken on several apprentices. Talking about it wouldn’t fix it, but her and her students were creating programs as well, programs to help. To heal. And focusing on their new work, to help get their minds off of it, it was helping.

It would get better.

He had to believe. Believe in all of them.

The city hall/safe house still had some horrid secrets lying about. In rooms under the ground blood was splattered around like it was paint, and broken test tubes and beakers grew a weird lilac blue fuzz on them. Zero’s chicken scrawl of notes grew more and more frenzied as time went on.

There was an entire hardback book, typed up and printed, called _’Remember my Jamie’_. It was 517 pages, split up into 7 chapters. Each for a year of his life. The last page read:

 

_Even though I could never speak to him, and him to me, I could tell the exact moment that he disappeared, that his mind lost it’s will. Maybe it was the fact that Jamie was always present in my magic, whether I was aware of it or not. He had a gift, you see, besides his painting and music and smile. See, he knew he had an ego from the moment he knew what one was. I wish I was able to ask him how he knew._

_And he always knew how to cheer me up, even though his situation was worse than my own. I was stuck in our head, away from the cruelty of the outside world while he labored away out there, without my protection. He seemed to know that I despised myself for not being able to help, and so he sent me little… feelings of joy. Feelings of happiness. Of hope. Hope for a better future, a better tomorrow for all of us._

_And these feelings never stopped, no matter what. They would be mixed in with sadness, mixed with anger, and even with pain, but Jamie would always made sure that I felt his hope. That I knew a better time would come._

_He was in the middle of a deep sleep, something he hadn’t gotten in a while. He was dreaming, I knew, not a happy dream, but a horrid nightmare that I couldn’t protect him from in my state. In the middle of the terror, the feelings just vanished. At the same time, little Jamie’s mind just bent and snapped, the pressure of the collar too much for his age. When we woke up, it was I in control, and Jamie had gone quiet._

_I had thought removing the collar would bring him back, but it didn’t. I tried many things to bring him back, because I could still feel him. But he was like a dollar on a fishing rod in the back of our mind, barely out of reach and being pulled back constantly. I couldn’t reach far enough._

_Jamie is the child that everyone can tell will do big things with their life. A child genius, kind and caring and creative as well. He lived for making others happy, and would hurt so no one else had to. This is why I must get him back. An ego is nothing without their host, but that doesn’t matter to me. I will gladly sacrifice myself to bring my host back. I just hope no one will ever try to get in my way._

_Of those that understand, for those hosts who were collared before we show up. I apologize for what you’ve had to endure, but I can assure you. Your egos will find a way to bring you back, to make sure you will stay safe for all eternity. That is our job as the ego, and we will do whatever it takes to make sure our job is fulfilled._

_If we can’t do that, then we don’t deserve to be called egos._

 

They burned everything. Mark kept the book.

It had taken a while but when he came around to it he read the whole thing. It was not as sad as he expected, focusing on the good parts instead of the bad. He found a painting that Zero had undoubtedly made, and it looked exactly like how a young Zero would look. It was masterfully drawn, and it felt like it had life in it.

He heard a child’s laugh when he touched it. Saw a child’s smile.

He buried the book and the picture in a box, in the cemetery. They had been here for a year already, and some of the old had passed, with smiles on their faces.

Mark found a tombstone and carved out the word ‘Jamie’ into it, before sticking the simple stone in its rightful place, behind the dug up dirt.

The next time he visited there were flowers planted at his grave. By who, he doesn’t know.

He heard a child laugh. He knew who it was.

 

Mark wasn’t expecting his mother and brother to show up one day, but he was happy nonetheless about it. His mother had brought with her three different dogs, all new friends for Chica, and Thomas brought with him another earful of ‘you're an idiot’. 

“Thomas, stop already.” His mother said, and Mark relaxed, happy it was over. “And leave some for me, he’s my son I need to scold him.”

It ended in hugs, at least.

With them came most of his mother and brother’s friends. A few of them were magical, and were happy to help out. They, like Thomas, were from peasant families but had magic and were enrolled in a magic school. Mark was happy that he found others like him.

They brought with them another hard working girl, someone named Amy. 

Living out in their own little kingdom was like having a fulltime 24-7 job, but Mark loved it. He was in complete control of his own life, and he loved that freedom.

Even if it was a lot of hard work. He’d take it all and more if it meant that this was a safe place. A place where anyone can go and feel at home. A place where if others who are in a violent place want out, they know where they can head.

A place for everyone.

He heard a child’s laugh. He knew who it was.

It wasn’t just one child.

It was two.

  
  
  
  


He looked into the sky one night. Two children were laughing. He was alone. No one else ever heard the laughter.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


He wonders, now and again, if Jamie left Zero because he was having too much fun with Cole in the afterlife.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This... is one of my favorites. I've written hundreds by now, but I've never written one like this before. Fast, long, full of magic, I love it. And by fast, I mean it took around 5 months to write, which is the fastest I've ever written anything completely before. Im very proud of this, and I hope you all enjoyed reading. See you all soon with something new.


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